Indonesian Chicken Satay (Sate Ayam)

Ingredients:

500g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into cubes 

1 shallots, sliced

1 tbs cooking oil

1/4 cup sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) 

2 tbs peanut sauce*

Wooden skewers, soak skewers in water for few hours to prevent burning

*Peanut sauce:

100g peanut butter

3 shallots

2 cloves garlic

3 - 4 candlenuts 

1 red chillies

2 tbs cooking oil

1 tbs sweet soy sauce

100 ml water (use more if the sauce is too thick for you)

A dash of sugar

Salt to taste

Garnish:

A drizzle of sweet soy sauce

Cucumber pickles 

Fried shallots

Chilli sauce (sambal oelek)

1. For peanut sauce: In a food processor puree the garlic, shallots, cooking oil, candle nuts, red chilli until smooth and sauté it in a saucepan over medium heat until fragrant. Stir in the peanut butter, sweet soy sauce and water, mix it well, season it with salt and a dash of sugar.
2. In a bowl, combine the chicken thighs, shallots, cooking oil, sweet soy sauce, peanut sauce and sprinkle it with salt. Marinate it for about 1 hour. 
3. Skewer the chicken meat onto wooden skewers, about 4 to 5 cubes of chicken thighs for each skewer. 
4. Preheat grill pan over medium high heat, drizzle it with coking oil. Grill the chicken satay for 4 minutes on each side or until its golden brown and the meat is cooked through. 
5. Place the chicken satay in a serving dish, pour the peanut sauce over and drizzle it with sweet soy sauce. Serve the chicken satay with steamed rice, pickles, chilli sauce and sprinkle with the fried shallots.