The Serious Foodie takes one of the staples of Southeast Asian street food – satay – and adds the wonderful Sri Lanka combo of sweat/sour/spicy flavors in this Sri Lanka Chicken Satay dish.
Most people are not familiar with the food of Sri Lanka – an island country on the southern tip of India. Most people think the food of Sri Lanka is very similar to Indian cuisine. In fact, just like India, rice and curry are main staples of the Sri Lanka diet , where the curry could be made up of a variety of things like meat, seafood, lentils, and vegetables. But this is where the similarity ends. There are distinctive flavors and ingredients of the Sri Lanka table – with lime and coconut playing a major role in their cooking. Check out this great article on the Travel Triangle website where you’ll learn a lot more about the typical dishes.
Want to learn more about the spicy condiments of Asian cuisine? Check out our blog on Sambal.
Sri Lanka Chicken Satay
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken We like using thighs, which give a meatier flavor and holds up better to the sauce
- 1 jar Serious Foodie Asian Fusion spice blend
- 2 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil
- 1 jar Serious Foodie Sri Lanka Coconut Lime Hot Sauce This is not crazy spicy - and a lot of the heat cooks off
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 cucumber, sliced into rounds
- 1 Optional: spicy red pepper, cut into thin rounds Red jalapeno, Fresno, or serano
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cooked Soba noodles or brown rice We like adding some of the Asian Fusion rub into the water that cooks the rice or noodles
- 8-10 sprigs Optional: fresh cilantro washed, dried, and trimmed
Instructions
- Rinse the chicken under cold running water, then drain and blot dry with paper towels. Cut the chicken lengthwise (with the grain) into 2 1/2-inch-long strips and place in a large bowl. Add a generous amount of the Serious Foodie Asian Fusion blend, one tablespoon of oil, then rub the mixture into the meat with your fingers.
- Prepare the cucumber salad: in a bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, 3 tablespoons of Sri Lanka Coconut Lime sauce, and 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar. Pour this over the cucumbers and optional spicy red peppers, and allow to marinate for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
- Remove the chicken from the fridge, then weave the chicken strips lengthwise onto the skewers. Preheat the grill to high. When ready to cook, oil the grill grate. Arrange the skewers on the hot grate and grill, turning with tongs, until lightly browned and cooked through, 1 to 3 minutes per side (2 to 6 minutes in all). Take the skewers off the grill briefly, then generously baste with the Sri Lanka Coconut Lime sauce. Put back on the grill, and cook for another minute or two (you do not need to turn the skewers again).
- Serve with the rice, some of the Sri Lanka Coconut Lime sauce, fresh cilantro, and some of the cucumber salad.
Notes
Try out our array of wonderful Asian ingredients:
