Perfect Peanut Sauce & Chicken

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Skewers of chicken & peanut sauce

It’s starting to warm up in Seattle – which means grilling season! The other day as I set about to grill some chicken on the barbeque – I felt the urge to make some type of dipping sauce. And for some crazy reason, my peanut sauce came to mind. I’ve been making this peanut sauce for over a decade; everyone who tries it loves it.   The ingredients aren’t very sexy, but at one point I even thought of mass producing and selling it. I love this for dipping chicken, and sometimes I even thin out the sauce and add it to asparagus, bow tie noodles and grilled chicken with some sliced, colorful peppers for a main dish.  I might use extra peanut sauce for dipping rice paper wrapped vegetable spring rolls.

All the ingredients

I made chicken skewers by the thousands back in the day. Through trial and error, I segued from cutting a longer, thinner piece of chicken and weaving it in and out of the skewer like a needle and fabric. Now I grill the breast halves intact after briefly marinating them in some olive oil and seasoning — then they are allowed to sit for a few minutes before I cube them and stab each square piece with a skewer. This method produces much moister chicken bite that is easy for company to dip and eat. For an appetizer, I figure 3-4 skewers per person (each chicken breast half makes a least 4 for pieces).

Peanut Sauce

Makes 1 ⅔ cups of sauce (enough to serve and lots to repurpose too)

Ingredients

• ½ cup chunky commercial peanut butter
• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar (unseasoned)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp tamari sauce (or soy sauce)
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp commercial chili sauce
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp fresh ginger root, peeled and minced

Instructions

Whisk all ingredients until well combined and if you like smoother peanut sauce put in the blender or food processor. This can be kept in the refrigerator for one month.

I serve a platter of the chicken skewers and garnish them with fresh cilantro and sliced orange halves, then pass a bowl of peanut sauce or additional dipping sauce as well.

Grilled Chicken Breasts

Serves 6-8 easily

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breast halves
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ¼ tsp smoked paprika

Instructions

Remove the tenderloin from the breasts. Mix all remaining ingredients together and marinate the chicken for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat a barbecue grill to 400-425 degrees. Oil the grates, and place each chicken breast half on the grill for about 4 minutes. Turn carefully with tongs and continue to cook until barely done. When pressed with your index finger, the meat should feel like the fatty part of your chin.

Remove from the heat and let them rest for 5-10 minutes. Cut into 1-inch cubes (you should get about 12-15 pieces per half) and place each cube on a 5-6 inch wood skewer.