Popular street food in South-East Asia, marinated skewers can be a snack or meal with rice, cucumber, and the essential peanut sauce.
Ingredients
* 1 lemongrass stem, trimmed, outer layers removed, chopped
* 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 1 tablespoon ground coriander
* 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
* 1 tablespoon finely grated palm sugar
* 2 tablespoons peanut oil, plus extra for basting
* 600g chicken breast, cut into 2cm cubes
* Cucumber wedges, to serve
Peanut sauce
* 150g roasted unsalted peanuts
* 2 tablespoons peanut oil
* 2 eschalots, finely chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, crushed
* 2 teaspoons chilli paste of sambal oelek (Indonesian chilli paste)
* 2 teaspoons finely grated palm sugar or raw sugar, plus extra to taste
* 2 tablespoons tamarind concentrate
* 2 teaspoons shrimp paste or 4 anchovy fillets in oil, drained
* 270ml can coconut milk
Don’t forget you can add these ingredients to your Woolworths shopping list.
Method
* 1. �Pound lemongrass to a paste with a mortar and pestle. Mix well with spices sugar and oil. Place chicken in a glass or ceramic dish, rub with paste, cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.
* 2. Meanwhile, soak about 18 wooden skewers in boiling water for 10 minutes.
* 3. Thread 5 chicken pieces onto each one.
* 4. Heat a barbecue or large chargrill on medium-high heat and cook skewers, in batches, turning and constantly basting with extra oil, for 8-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked and slightly charred.
* 5. For the peanut sauce, finely grind peanuts in a food processor. Heat oil in a deep frypan over medium-low heat. Add eschalots and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes until onion is soft. Stir in peanuts, chilli and shrimp pastes, sugar, tamarind, lime, coconut milk and 1 cup (250ml) water until well combined. Increase the heat to high and bring to the boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened. Adjust salt and sugar to taste.
* 6. Serve skewers with sauce and cucumber.
