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- Photo: shosady / Flickr
Satay refers to spicy marinated meat or seafood that is grilled and served on skewers. Peanut sauce often accompanies satays, as influenced by South East Asian cooking. This prawn satay recipe requires eight skewers, 24 shelled prawns as well as coriander, cumin, turmeric and chilli powders, amongst other ingredients like lemon grass, shrimp paste, tamarind paste and ground peanuts. Allow for a preparation time of 35 minutes and a cooking time of four minutes per skewer and seven minutes for the sauce.
Ingredients for the peanut sauce
The peanut sauce requires the following ingredients: 2 lemon grass stalks, 1 small onion (sliced), 1 teaspoon each of chilli powder, shrimp paste and salt, 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon each of sugar and tamarind paste, 250 ml of water and 180 grams of ground peanuts.
Preparation of the peanut sauce
Cut off 5 cm of the thick bulb end of the lemongrass, slice and place in a blender. Add all the other peanut sauce ingredients except for the water, tamarind paste, oil and peanuts. Blend the ingredients until you have a fine consistency. Heat the oil on a medium heat until it is smoky then fry the mixture for three minutes.
Using some water, dissolve the tamarind and then strain the mixture before adding it to the pan. Stir in the sugar, salt and ground peanuts and turn down the temperature. Cook on a low heat for four minutes while stirring to prevent lumps. Check the seasoning and spoon the mixture into a bowl.
Ingredients for the prawns
You will need the following ingredients to make eight prawn skewers: 24 large uncooked prawns (shelled), 2 tablespoons of coriander powder, 1 tablespoon of cumin powder, 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon of chilli powder, 1 small onion (ground), 1 tablespoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons of salt and eight bamboo skewers.
Preparation of prawns
Using a sharp knife, cut each prawn down the back so as to remove the dark vein. This is not always a pleasurable activity but it is essential that the dark veins are removed. Wash and dry the prawns. Mix all the powders together with the sugar, salt and onion. Coat the prawns in the spice mixture and rest the prawns for half an hour so that the flavours can be absorbed.
Prepare the peanut sauce in the meantime. When the prawns are ready, curl each one before placing it onto a skewer. Secure each one by putting the skewer through the tail and body of the prawn. Allow three prawns per skewer.
Rub any left over spice mixture onto the prawns.
Cooking the prawns
The skewered prawns should be grilled under a preheated grill for four minutes. Alternatively, cook them over an open charcoal fire. Whatever cooking method you use, turn the prawns once during the four minute cooking period.
Serve immediately with rice for an Oriental approach or serve with chips and a salad for a Western-style meal.
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