Chicken Satay and Sticky Rice

I think I once mentioned that my mom very often made two meals for dinner as we were growing up.  I imagine that's not so unusual when you take one meat and potatoes midwestern father and one Thai mother.  We always thought it was pretty cool to have dinner choices. One meal that the entire family always agreed upon though was chicken satay...we all loved chicken satay fresh off the grill and served with sticky rice. We call it sweet rice, but people usually think I'm referring to the mango and coconut rice dessert when I call it that, so it just causes less confusion to call it sticky rice.

It can sometimes be difficult to figure out which rice is sticky rice when shopping for it in the asian market.  It's not always well marked, is labeled in foreign text or it's often labeled "sweet rice."  Some wise food labeler realized that peeps who don't read asian languages have been shopping for sticky rice and made it a bit easier.  Glutinous rice = sweet rice = sticky rice.  It's all the same.

Like "regular" rice, sticky rice comes in  both long grain and short grain.  Both are cooked the same and taste the same---it's a preference thing.   

A thai style sticky rice steamer is pretty easy to find in an asian market.  It consists of a bamboo cone steaming basket and large, steaming pan--you can throw any lid on top.  I'm not going to lie to you here...this pot is a storage nightmare and really is a one-use wonder.  I eat enough sticky rice that  the convience makes it worth owning one.  If you only eat sticky rice on occasion though, I've seen some pretty creative ways to cook it including bamboo dim sum steamer, cheesecloth and even a splatter guard over large pan of water with stainless steel bowl turned over  the rice.  Pretty clever.

Freezing the chicken breasts for 30-45 minutes prior to slicing the chicken makes it a bit easier to get those even thin slices.  Most of the time and effort is in the prep.  Once these are ready to cook, they cook up in almost no time.  

Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Marinade ingredients:
½ cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon palm sugar (or brown sugar)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp red curry paste (optional)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into long, thin strips (about 1 inch wide)
Bamboo skewers

Peanut Sauce Ingredients

½ cup coconut milk

1/3 cup natural chunky peanut butter

1 tablespoon red curry paste

3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2  tablespoons palm sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon finely diced peanuts

Directions:

1. Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix well.  
2. Add the chicken breast strips and stir thoroughly to cover in marinade. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight.
3. Soak the bamboo skewers in water for an hour (to prevent them from burning on the grill)
4. Prepare the peanut sauce by placing all of the ingredients except peanuts in a blender and blending until smooth. Stir in chopped peanuts. The sauce can be made up to a day ahead of time and refrigerated.
5. Preheat the grill
6. Remove the chicken from the marinade and thread onto the bamboo skewers. Cook on the grill or under the broiler for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until cooked through.
7. Serve on the skewers with the spicy peanut sauce for dipping.

Cooking Sticky Rice:

1. Rinse the stickys rice several times
2. Soak the rice in warm water for at least 4 hours or overnight.
3. Pour soaked rice into a bamboo steaming basket and rinse again
4. Add a couple of inches of water into the steaming pot. Place bamboo basket on top and cover the rice with a lid.
5. Once the water boils, cook rice for 20 minutes.
6. Carefully remove the steaming basket from the pot and flip rice into serving bowl.
7. Mix the rice thoroughly and serve warm
8. Cooked rice will harden after completely cooling or storing overnight. To reheat cover with damp paper towel, place in microwave and microwave in 10-15 second intervals until warmed and softened.