Grilled Chicken Satay Marinated in Red Curry Sauce

Chicken satay over rice

I love red curry and coconut milk, and I am absolutely crazy about them together. When I decided to make chicken satay, I knew that the marinade would contain both; I also knew I would be tempted to drink the marinade (so I decided to keep a little aside and put it over rice). Chicken has a a tendency to dry out on the grill. If I am grilling or smoking chicken, I always brine it (I always brine chickens that I am going to roast too). Obviously, I am not going to brine this so I decided to use thigh meat which, because it is dark meat, is less likely to dry out.

The Chicken

I used two pounds of boneless skinless thigh meat. I cut chicken into thin strips (about 1/2 inch/ 1.5 cm) and placed them in a plastic bag.

A marinade good enough to drink

The Marinade

1/4 Cup (35 g) of Onion, Diced
4 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 Inch Piece of Ginger, Diced
1 Tsp of Turmeric
1 Tbsp Red Curry Paste
1 Cup (240 ml) of Coconut Milk
2 Tbsp of Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp of Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp of Rice Wine Vinegar

Whisk all of the ingredients together. (Yep it is good enough to drink). I set aside a little bit to put over rice and the rest I used to marinade the chicken for about 6 hours. You should marinate the chicken for at least 4 hours.

Grilling

Skewered chicken

Place the chicken on skewers (if using bamboo, soak the skewers for 20 minutes) and place on the grill. You'll want the grill good and hot for this.  Make sure you have the temp up around 300 before you start grilling the skewers.  Grill the chicken for 3 - 5 minutes each side until chicken is no longer pink.

Grilling the chicken satay

Serving

I served the chicken with sweet chili sauce, peanut sauce, and hot sauce. My favorite was the sweet chili sauce. I also served them with cucumber salad and rice.

Ready to eat!

The bottom line: Will I make these again? Absolutely!  Next time I will double the marinade and reserve half of the marinade for a curry the next day.  Next time I will be sure to have the grill at 300+ before I start; they took a while to grill at only 250.  I will continue to grill them outside; they are much better grilled than broiled (or even grilled on the inside grill)