What’s for dinner? Thai style chicken skewers

 It’s not often I’m this excited about recipes I’ve created but this one is really something special. I could easily make and eat this every single day for the rest of my life – that’s how tasty it turned out and how proud I am of it. I’ve always been a little apprehensive about and intimidated by cooking Asian dishes – if most so called “Asian” restaurants can’t get them right, why on Earth would I? Thai cuisine is, however, one of my favorites and since I had all of these ingredients just lying around waiting to be used, I gave it a shot.  The chicken turned out wonderfully moist and the balance of flavors was spot on! I’m glad I wrote the recipe down or I would probably never have been able to replicate it… which would’ve been a damn shame. Now I’ve talked it up so much you HAVE to try it out!

You need: 

♥ 2-4 chicken fillets (depending on number of servings)
♥ 2 dl salted peanuts
♥ 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
♥ 1 ts ground ginger
♥ 1 fresh chili pod, deseeded and finely chopped or 0,5 tsp dried chili flakes
♥ 3 tbsp brown sugar or 2 tbsp honey
♥ 2-3 tsp fish sauce
♥ juice of 1 lime
♥ 1 dl soy sauce
♥ 1 dl vegetable oil

For serving:

♥ Basmati rice
♥ For the salad: various julienned vegetables (I used cabbage, carrots, cucumber and cherry tomatoes) and half a finely chopped chili pod, a finely chopped clove of garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice and honey (about a tablespoon of each) for the dressing
♥ 3 tbsp coconut cream (to turn what’s left of the marinade into a sauce)

// Ma ei ole enda valmistatud retseptidest üldse tihti ahvivaimustuses, aga see siin on tõepoolest midagi erilist. Ma võiks vabalt seda nüüdsest alates iga päev teha ja süüa – nii maitsev oli see minu meelest. Mind on Aasia köök ja selle roogade valmistamine alati pisut hirmutanud – kui enamus Aasia restorane autentseid roogasid luua ei suuda, miks peaks see minul kodus õnnestuma? Tai köök on aga üks mu suuri lemmikuid ja kuna mul kõik need koostisosad lihtsalt kapis oma korda ootasid, tegin proovi. Kana sai vapustavalt mahlane ja maitsete tasakaal oli ideaalne! Mul on hea meel, et ma retsepti üles kirjutasin – vastasel juhul poleks ma iialgi osanud seda teinekord uuesti täpselt samamoodi valmistada…. ja sellest oleks hirmus kahju olnud. Korralik kiidulaul – nüüd ei jää teil muud üle, kui asi ise järele proovida!

Sa vajad:

♥ 2-4 kanafileed (sõltuvalt sööjate arvust)
♥ 2 dl soolaseid röstitud maapähkleid
♥ 2-3 küünt küüslauku, hakitult
♥ 1 tl jahvatatud ingverit
♥ 1 värske tšillikaun, seemneteta ja hakitult või 0,5 tl tšillihelbeid
♥ 3 sl pruuni suhkrut või 2 sl mett
♥ 2-3 tl kalakastet
♥ 1 laimi mahl
♥ 1 dl sojakastet
♥ 1 dl taimeõli

Serveerimiseks:

♥ Basmatiriisi
♥ Salati jaoks: erinevaid ribadeks lõigatud köögivilju (mina kasutasin kapsast, porgandit, kurki ja kirsstomateid) ja poolt hakitud tšillikauna, ühte pressitud küüslauguküünt, kalakastet, sojakastet, laimimahla ja mett (igatüht umbes supilusikatäis) kastme jaoks
♥ 3 sl kookoskoort (et allesjäänud marinaadist kaste teha)

If you’ve got a food processor or blender, this is all very easy – throw everything but the vegetable oil in and blend all the ingredients into a smooth paste. Then add the vegetable oil little by little until you’ve got a smooth marinade to pour into a shallow dish. Cut the chicken breasts into small (2×2 cm) chunks and thread them onto your skewers. Then cover the skewers in the marinade and leave them to season in it for at least half an hour. In the meantime, you can soak the rice, julienne some vegetables and make the dressing for the salad. When the chicken is done marinating, start cooking the rice and heat a griddle pan to fry the skewers in. Pour the rest of the marinade into a small saucepan, bring it to a simmer and then add three tablespoons of coconut cream – that’s all the effort you’re going to be putting into making the sauce. Serve with a lime wedge and fresh, sliced chili. Enjoy!