Sate Lilit Ayam (Balinese Chicken Sate) - AFF Indonesia Mar 2014

I have bookmarked this recipe for a month now and finally gotten down to cook it. When I first saw the recipe posted by Ira of Cooking Tackle (guest post on My Cooking Hut), I immediately took to it because I love how the sate was adorably presented using lemongrass! And I love anything lemongrass =D

There are 2 steps to making this dish, the spice paste and the chicken minced mixture. Although there's a long list of spices required, it's not as tedious as I imagined.

I managed to get all the spices required from the wet market near my place. As usual the kakak at the Malay/Indonesia grocery stall was more than happy to help me gather all the required ingredients.

These were all the spices/ingredients needed for the spice paste. I've seen most of the spices except for kencur (fresh kaempferia galanga) and daun salam (Indonesian bay leaves). Was quite lucky coz last packet left for the kencur. It has a mild ginger and earthy smell. The salam leaves have no fragrant and look like some random tree leaves. LOL.

Basically blend or pound all the ingredients together except lemongrass, salam leaves and kaffir lime leaf into a paste. I didn't blend till very smooth paste, there were still some fine bits. Then fry the paste till cooked/fragrant.

Next, mix minced chicken (I use half breast meat half thigh meat), fresh grated coconut and finely sliced kaffir lime leaves together. Then add in the cooked spice paste and mix thoroughly.

Take about a tablespoon of mixture, slightly flatten and place a stick of lemongrass on top. Mould the mixture around the lemongrass.

Tadah! Here were the uncooked stalks of sate lilit ayam. I used my Happy Call Pan to pan fry the sate till slightly golden brown.

The sate was yummy and very aromatic from the combination of the spices. The use of lemongrass as a stick added a tinge of fragrance to the meat. The meat wasn't too dry as I used both breast and thigh meat. Could also taste the fine bits of spices and grated coconut. Sedap!

Sate Lilit Ayam (Balinese Chicken Sate)
(recipe from Ira of Cooking Tackle (guest post on My Cooking Hut))
(makes about 13-15 sticks)

Ingredients:

Spice paste

• 6 shallots
• 5 garlic cloves
• 5 red chillies
• 2 chilli padi
• 2 candle nuts, crushed and toasted
• 20g fresh kaempferia galanga (kencur), skin removed and chopped into small pieces
• 30gr fresh turmeric, skin removed and chopped into small pieces
• 40gr fresh galangal, skin removed and chopped into small pieces
• 1/2 tsp belachan
• 2 tbsp palm sugar
• 3 kaffir lime leaves, torn into small pieces
• 2 Indonesian bay leaves (daun salam), torn into small pieces
• 1 lemongrass, bruised
• vegetable oil for frying

Chicken

• 200g minced chicken (100g breast meat, 100g thigh meat)
• 50g fresh grated coconut (white)
• 4 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp spice paste (from above)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 15 stalks of lemongrass, remove outer layers

Steps:

To make the spice paste

1. Blend all ingredients except lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and salam leaves into a paste.
2. Heat oil in a wok, add the spice paste, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and salam leaves.
3. Cook over medium heat, until the spice paste becomes fragrant or has changed colour to almost golden brown. Set aside.
4. The quantity is enough to make 3 portions of sate. Use 1 portion to make chicken sate and keep remaining for fish sate or other dishes in a glass jar and chill in fridge for up to 2 weeks.

To make the sate

1. Place the minced chicken, fresh grated coconut and finely sliced kaffir lime leaves in a bowl, mix well to combine.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of the cooked spice paste and season with salt. Mix until the chicken has evenly coated with the spice paste.
3. Take a heaped tablespoon of the mixture, place it on your palm and flatten slightly. Take a stalk of lemongrass and place it onto the mixture, mould the mixture around the lemongrass.
4. Heat a non stick pan, brush with oil, place and arrange the sate in the pan. Grill/pan-fry each side for about 5 minutes until golden brown all around.
5. Best served warm with some achar (Indonesian Pickle).

I am submitting this to Asian Food Fest Indonesia Month, 

hosted by Alice of I Love. I Cook. I Bake.