Charcoal Sate Madura with Fried-Peanut Sauce

Method

1. Soak the skewers in water for 30 min. Pull the skin off the chicken in one piece. Cut the meat into 2 cm cubes and the skin into 2 cm squares; keep them separate.

   Add in this stepBamboo skewers (about 20 cm) 12Boneless chicken thighs, skin on 320 g

2. Toast the coriander seeds in a dry 16 cm pan over medium-low heat for 1 min, shaking the pan, until they smell citrusy and darken slightly, then crush them finely. Blend or pound the marinade shallots, garlic and ginger to a paste and mix with the coriander, white pepper, kecap manis, salt and oil.

   Add in this stepCoriander seeds 1 tspShallots 2Garlic cloves 2Fresh ginger, grated 1 tspGround white pepper 2 pinchKecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce) 2 tbspSalt 2 pinchCooking oil 2 tsp

   medium-low heat

3. Toss the meat and skin in the marinade, cover and refrigerate for 2 h. A longer marinade lets the spices reach the center.

4. Heat the frying oil in a 22 cm frying pan over medium heat, add the peanuts and fry for 6 min, stirring constantly, until evenly golden brown inside (cut one open to check); lift them out onto paper towel. In the same oil, fry the sliced sauce shallots, garlic and chilies for 2 min, until soft and lightly golden. Let everything cool.

   Add in this stepPeanut oil (for frying) 4 tbspRaw peanuts, skin on 90 gShallots (for the sauce) 2Garlic cloves (for the sauce) 2Fresh red chilies 1

   medium heat

5. Blend the peanuts, fried aromatics and water until as smooth as possible. Pour into a 16 cm small pot with the palm sugar, kecap manis, torn lime leaves and salt. Simmer over medium-low heat for 10 min, stirring often and scraping the bottom, until thick and glossy with a little oil glinting on the surface. Remove the leaves and stir in the lime juice.

   Add in this stepWater 180 mlPalm sugar (or brown sugar) 1½ tspKecap manis (for the sauce) 1½ tbspMakrut lime leaves 2Salt (for the sauce) 2 pinchLime juice 2 tsp

   medium-low heat

6. Thread 12 skewers, alternating 4 pieces of meat with 1 piece of skin, packed tightly. For the sambal kecap, thinly slice the bird's eye chilies and shallots and mix with the kecap manis and lime juice. Mix the basting kecap manis and oil.

   Add in this stepBird's eye chilies 2Shallots (for the sambal kecap) 1Kecap manis (for the sambal kecap) 2 tbspLime juice (for the sambal kecap) 2 tspKecap manis (for basting) 1½ tbspCooking oil (for basting) 1½ tbsp

7. Light 1 kg of charcoal in a chimney starter or the grill and wait about 20 min, until the coals are covered with a thin layer of grey ash and glow red underneath. Spread them in an even layer and set the grate about 8 cm above.

8. Grill in batches (2 in total) over charcoal (medium heat) for 6 min, turning every minute and fanning the coals so the fat drips and smokes. Then brush with the basting mix and grill for 2 min, turning and brushing twice more, until glossy, charred at the edges and the skin is crisp. Serve with the peanut sauce poured over and the sambal kecap on the side.

   charcoal (medium heat)