Satay Chicken Stir Fry

Minimalism with Kids

In the past 12 months or so, I have been on a mission to declutter our home. I have long aspired to have a minimalist home (I blame Pinterest) but I always felt that minimalism was incompatible with raising children.

Even if I aspired to a home filled with monochromatic and Nordic-designed wooden toys, there is no avoiding the many multi-coloured, multi-tiered Lego constructions which my son likes to build and display (in perpetuity), nor the noisy and brightly coloured plastic toys which come into our home by way of gifts from friends and family (and which our children totally love).

But upon realising that I felt burdened by all of our possessions, most of which we don’t use anyway, I thought the least we could try was to rid our home of things we no longer used and loved.

It is a massive effort which I realise is not something you can achieve over a long weekend, but is rather an ongoing and daily process.

Cooking Magazine Addiction

My current project is going through all of my cooking magazines which have accumulated over the past decade and occupy more valuable real estate than they deserve.

There is something quite satisfying about flicking through an old magazine, removing a few pages of interesting recipes, and then discarding what is mostly a bundle of advertising.

Many years ago, a reader suggested on my Facebook page that one good way to store recipes torn from magazines is to laminate them. It is quite an ingenious, but simple, idea, especially since it gives some structure to flimsy magazine paper, but it also protects the recipe from splashes and accidents in the kitchen!

Satay Chicken Stir-Fry

As I was going through some of my old recipes which I had eagerly laminated when I first bought the machine some 5 years ago, I came across a recipe for Satay Chicken Stir Fry, a dish which my mother and I loved to order whenever we went to a Chinese restaurant. Actually, she loved to order satay beef, but chicken was always my favourite.

Satay Chicken Stir Fry was one of my favourite recipes to make at home during my years as a student, especially since it is a one-pan dish and this was the only kind of recipe my two-burner stove could accommodate.

And like most students, I also had a thing for instant noodles and loved eating this dish with instant curly ramen noodles.

Satay Chicken Recipe

I have since tweaked my satay chicken recipe a bit, mainly to reduce the amount of spice so that our children can also enjoy this dish, as well as bulk up the vegetable component.

But as with most Chinese stir-fries, the ingredients are quite changeable. I love to use capsicums (bell peppers), but beans, snow peas, and broccoli also work well in this recipe. Whatever you have in the fridge, really!

I also like to make a plentiful and runny sauce so that it goes well with a bowl of rice, but you can make it as runny or as thick as you like (the restaurant versions tend to have less sauce).

Although the list of ingredients look long, these are items which I commonly have at home. In fact, if you regularly make curries at home from scratch (and a satay sauce is essentially a curry), you are also likely to have most of these spices already.

5 stars (20 reviews)

Satay Chicken Stir Fry

Thanh | Eat, Little Bird

Prep15 minutes mins

Cook20 minutes mins

Total35 minutes mins

Serves: 4

Make dinner in about 30 minutes with this totally delicious Satay Chicken Stir Fry which uses peanut butter, creamy coconut milk and your favourite vegetables. You could also substitute the chicken for beef or tofu.

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Ingredients

For the Chicken Marinade

• 500 g (1 lb) chicken breast fillets, sliced thinly
• ½ teaspoon fine salt
• 1 teaspoon curry powder, see Kitchen Notes below

For the Satay Sauce

• 250 ml (1 cup) coconut milk, plus more to taste
• 125 ml (½ cup) water
• 3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 4 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha, optional
• 1 teaspoon curry powder, see Kitchen Notes below
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

For the Stir-Fry

• 2-4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 red capsicum, (bell pepper) cut into large dice
• 1 green capsicum, (bell pepper) cut into large dice
• 1 large onion, cut into large dice
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 lemongrass stalk, coarsely grated or very finely chopped
• 1 handful unsalted cashew nuts, optional
• spring onions, (scallions) finely sliced
• coriander, (cilantro) finely chopped

To Serve

• Steamed Jasmine Rice

Instructions 

For the Chicken Marinade

1. Place the chicken in a bowl and sprinkle over the salt and curry powder.
2. Use a pair of chopsticks or tongs to mix everything together.
3. Set the chicken aside for 10-15 minutes while you get on with the rest of the recipe.

For the Satay Sauce

1. I like to do this in a large measuring jug by first measuring the coconut milk, followed by the water, and then whisk in the rest of the ingredients.

For the Stir-Fry

1. Heat a large saucepan or wok over high heat with a few tablespoons of oil.
2. Cook the chicken in batches until lightly golden. The chicken does not need to be fully cooked through at this stage.
3. Use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken to a bowl.
4. If necessary, add more oil to the saucepan.
5. Cook the capsicums (bell peppers) for a few minutes.
6. Add the onion, garlic and lemongrass.
7. Sauté for a few minutes until the vegetables have softened slightly.
8. Return the chicken to the pan, together with any juices which have collected in the bowl.
9. Add the satay sauce and give everything a good mix.
10. Simmer gently for a few minutes.
11. If the sauce is too thick, add some more coconut milk and/or boiling water, until you have the desired consistency. Coconut milk will add further richness and flavour to the sauce, whilst water will slightly dilute or tone down the flavours if the sauce is too strong.
12. Be careful not to simmer for too long as the vegetables may overcook. Ideally, the vegetables should still have some crunch.
13. If you are using cashew nuts, either stir them through the sauce to warm them through, or sprinkle them on top to retain their crunch.
14. Garnish with spring onions (scallions) and coriander (cilantro) before serving.
15. Serve with steamed Jasmine rice or ramen noodles.

Kitchen Notes

• WHAT TYPE OF CURRY POWDER?
  I use a mild curry powder for this recipe, but you can use any blend which is intended for Chinese or Indian cooking.
• MAKE IT SPICY
  I have intentionally kept this recipe mild in spice so that my young children can also enjoy this dish. You can increase the heat by adding maybe 1/4 teaspoon or so of ground chilli powder to the Satay Sauce. But make sure you are using pure ground chillies and not a chilli spice mix – check the ingredients, and your best bet for finding pure ground chillies is from your Asian grocer.
• MAKE IT WITH BEEF
  You can substitute the chicken for beef. I recommend a cut such as entrecôte, fillet or sirloin. 
• MAKE IT VEGETARIAN
  You can substitute the chicken for firm tofu. Cut the tofu into thick slices, and then cut them into small pieces, similar in size to the vegetables. Once you have added the satay sauce to the vegetables, add the tofu and cook until they are warmed through.
• SERVE IT WITH RICE OR NOODLES
  I think this dish is best served with steamed Jasmine rice, but it also works well with brown rice or a wild rice mix. As a student, I loved eating this dish with instant curly ramen noodles.
• VARIATIONS
  Other vegetables can also be used in this recipe, including:
  * green beans
  * snap peas
  * snow peas
  * carrots
  * broccoli
  * baby corn
• CONVERSIONS
  To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.

Nutrition Information Nutrition Information

Serving: 1g, Calories: 418kcal, Carbohydrates: 15.2g, Protein: 33.2g, Fat: 11.7g, Cholesterol: 93mg, Sodium: 1454mg, Fiber: 3.4g, Sugar: 9.5g

Did you make this recipe?

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Update

This recipe was first published on 17 February 2018. It has been updated with more comprehensive recipe notes.

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