Indonesian-style Chicken With Spicy Peanut Sauce
From lunasea 17 years ago
- 40 minutes to make
- Serves 4
This is an adapted recipe of Sara Moulton. I will give her recipe but also show you my changes, which include a few extra ingredients and short-cutting the cooking process. You can sub white-meat pieces if you want but the dark meat pieces have extra flavor, in my opinion. Read more Either way or either chicken pieces will give you a delicious dish that is sure to please. This pairs well with any Asian-inspired rice of choice and some fresh veggies. I'm thinking it would go great with my Spicy Sesame Noodle Green Bean And Carrot Salad. Oh, yeah. Enjoy. **NOTE 1: These are perfect for grilling, if you are so inclined. **NOTE 2: If you know Sara, she's moving from The Food Network (Sara's Secrets and the much-missed Cooking Live) to PBS. I can't wait to check out her new cooking program and I so admire her. She's not only a great chef, but a teacher - which makes her a great presence in the culinary world. See less
Ingredients
- For the chicken: shopping list
- 8 large chicken thighs, about 2 1/2 pounds (NOTE: I often remove the skins) shopping list
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste shopping list
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil, preferably peanut oil (NOTE: Regardless of the oil you use, I sub half sesame oil here for extra flavor - it's great) shopping list
- 1/4 soy sauce shopping list
- 2 tbsp. honey shopping list
- 2 garlic cloves, minced (NOTE: I often use up to 4 cloves here because I love garlic) shopping list
- One 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced shopping list
- 1 tbsp. toasted coriander (Spread them over the bottom of a small skillet over medium-high heat and toss or stir them until dark brown and fragrant, 3-5 minutes. Transfer to plate to cool, then grind in a small grinder or mortar and pestle. If you use pre-ground coriander, heat it a bit in a pan first and cool....it makes the taste better.) shopping list
- 1/4 tsp. curry powder shopping list
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper shopping list
- **** shopping list
- MY ADAPTATIONS to the marinade and Optional: shopping list
- 3-4 chopped scallions shopping list
- 1/2 cup cilantro shopping list
- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce shopping list
- **** shopping list
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter (if you're browning the chicken on the stovetop before going into the oven) shopping list
- **** shopping list
- For the peanut sauce (Can use your favorite bottled, but this is good): shopping list
- 3/4 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky, your preference) shopping list
- 1/2 cup hoisin sauce shopping list
- 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice shopping list
- 1 tbsp. soy sauce shopping list
- 2 tsp. sesame oil shopping list
- One 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced shopping list
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes shopping list
How to make it
- To prepare the chicken, trim the thighs of excess fat and use a sharp knife to score. Cut through the skin, deep into the flesh, at 1/2-inch intervals.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper.
- Whisk 2 tbsp. of the oil, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, ground coriander seeds, cayenne, curry powder and the OPTIONAL scallions, cilantro and hosin sauce in a small bowl.
- Transfer to a large zip bag.
- Place thighs in the marinade and marinate at room temperature for 1 hour or in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. (The longer time in the fridge works best for me.)
- Shake the sealed bag from time to time to disturibute the marinade evenly.
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- ****
- NOTE: I now skip the following browing step before baking, but I've made it both ways -so do what you feel best. I find straight-to-the-oven gives the chicken plenty of browning and caramelization without the browning step.
- ****
- Remove the chicken from the marinade and shake most of the marinade off.
- Melt butter with the remaining 2 tbsp. of oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add thighs and cook until browned, 3-4 minutes per side. Pour off fat, leave thighs in skillet and transfer to the oven.
- Bake, uncovered, turning once, until fork inserted near the bone easily enters the flesh, about 25 minutes.
- ****
- NOTE: If skipping the above stove-top browning process - put chicken in oiled (can use PAM) oven-proof skillet and put straight into the oven, turning mid-way. Cook chicken for about 35-40 minutes in oven.
- ****
- To prepare the peanut sauce: combine the peanut butter, hoisin, lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and pepper flakes in a blender and pour in 1/2 cup water and blend until smooth.
- NOTE: You can blend this well by hand with a whisk and you may need to add more water to the peanut sauce to get the consistency you desire. It's pretty thick, as is....but yummy.
- ****
- Arrange the thighs on a large warmed platter. Drizzle on a small amount of the sauce and serve the rest on the side
- Optional: Sprinkle extra chopped cilantro over the top.
- Serves 4.
The Rating
Reviewed by 5 people-
this a MUST DO, thanks for sharing a great post. A big high 5....
robertg
in loved it
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SOUNDS VERY GOOD VICKIE
minitindel
in THE HEART OF THE WINE COUNTRY loved it
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