Daring Cooks January Challenge: Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce

January's Daring Cooks Challenge: Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce

This month's Daring Cooks challenge was Satay, with any meat, vegetable or sauce variations.  The one required step was to marinate the meat and/or vegetables, which I did using the mentioned marinade.

(The finished product: Pork Satay with Pepper Dip)

I chose to use pork chops because that is what we had in the freezer.

To begin, I made the marinade and then cut the pork chops into 1 inch strips and placed it in the marinade (recipe follows).

Satay Marinade (courtesy of Cuppy at http://recipes.cuppylicious.net/)

1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T ginger root, chopped (optional)
2 T lemon juice
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil)
1 pound of pork (loin or shoulder cuts) 

Directions:
1. Chop onions, garlic and ginger really fine (I chose to grate them) then add other ingredients and mix together in a medium to large bowl.
2. Cut pork into 1 inch strips.
3. Cover pork with marinade.  Marinate for 4-24 hours.
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After taking care of the pork and marinade, I moved onto the sauces.  I planned to make both the Peanut Sauce and the Pepper Dip.  Even though I am not a huge fan of Peanut Sauces (or coconuts), I still wanted to give it a try.  I mixed all the ingredients for the Peanut Sauce but when I opened the can of coconut milk, I couldn't proceed.  The texture/look of the coconut milk was not to my liking (to say the least) so I nixed the Peanut Sauce and just made the Pepper Dip, which was nice and spicy.

Pepper Dip (courtesy of Cuppy at http://recipes.cuppylicious.net/)

4 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp brown sugar
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)
1 finely chopped green onion (scallion)

Mix well. Serve chilled or room temperature.

Here is the Peanut Sauce recipe (if you are so inclined):

Peanut Sauce (courtesy of Cuppy at http://recipes.cuppylicious.net/)

3/4 cup coconut milk
4 Tbsp peanut butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)

1. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.
2. Over low heat combine coconut milk, peanut butter and soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often.
3. You are just looking to melt the peanut butter, so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat.
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After marinating the pork for 5 hours or so, I put the skewers in water to soak and started preparing the grill.  I allowed 30 minutes for the skewers to soak and as you can see, it clearly was not enough (...at least I will know for next time).

(Notice the singed/burned skewers)

I brushed some more of the marinade on the pork before I flipped them, which was recommended for grilling.  Besides some of the skewers burning off, the grilling part was uneventful.

This is what they looked like right off the grill:

To complete the meal, we served the Pork Satay and the Pepper Dip with Basmati Rice, shredded Carrot and Beet salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing and Garlic Bread (which was perhaps a little much as I couldn't finish mine).

(Not pictured: Pepper Dip)

I would definitely recommend this variation of Pork Satay, the recipe was easy and very flavorful.  This was a tasty and quick for a weeknight meal!