Barbecue - Thai style

The most famous Thai food, in England at least is satay, and you can easily make homemade satay for your barbecue. All you need is strips of chicken or beef, marinated in Thai curry paste, peanut sauce and fish paste, and threaded onto wooden skewers which you then grill on your barbecue over a low to medium heat. Here's how to do it.

Cut thin strips of chicken or beef, rub them well in a mixture of 50% red Thai curry paste, and the peanut sauce below, leave in a cool place for three or four hours, and then lace them onto wooden skewers that have been soaked in cold salted water for an hour. Grill for ten to fifteen minutes, turning a quarter turn each time.

Peanut Sauce

• 400 grams dry roasted peanuts
• 50 ml water
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons light sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce (if you can't find it, use soy sauce, but it won't have that authentic Thai tang)
• 1/2 teaspoon tamarind paste
• 1 teaspoon red chilli sauce or paste (adjust to taste, this can be quite hot for some palates)
• A squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Place all ingredients in a blender and whiz until the sauce is smooth. This is the ideal consistency for the satay but to use for a dipping sauce, or if you prefer a runnier peanut sauce, add a little more water. Do a taste test for salt and spice, adding more fish sauce if not salty enough, and more chilli sauce if not spicy enough. If too salty, add another squeeze of fresh lime juice. Serve as a dip with fresh vegetables, chicken or beef satay, fresh spring rolls, or mix with noodles to create a cold noodle salad.

Barbecue Thai photograph by Chas Redmond, used under a creative commons attribution licence.

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