Thai Chicken Sates aka Coconut Chicken

So YUMMY! Kia is always asking for me to make this again and again.

Advanced Preparation

• 1 to 2 hours for marinating the chicken

Special Equipment

• About 40 short bamboo skewers and an aluminum foil shield (folded aluminum foil to protect the skewers instead of exposing them to the heat of the grill)

Ingredients

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts or leg meat
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 piece (1 inch) peeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 TBSP Asian fish sauce
• 1/2 cup coconut milk, canned or homemade

Rinse chicken under cold water, then drain and blot it dry with paper towels. Cut the chicken lengthwise (with the grain) into longs strips about the size of your little finger. Place the chicken into a large bowl.

Combine the garlic, ginger, sugar and salt into a mortar and pound to a course paste with a pestle, then work in the fish sauce and coconut milk (I don't have a mortar and pestle, so I just chop the garlic and ginger extra fine). Add the marinade to the chicken, turning the strips to coat. Let the chicken marinate in the fridge, covered for 1 to 2 hours (the longer the better), stirring occasionally.

Remove the chicken strips from the marinade, reserving the marinade, and weave the chicken lengthwise onto the skewers.

Set up your grill and preheat to high.

When ready to cook, brush and oil the grate. Arrange the sates on the hot grill with the aluminum foil shield under the ends of the skewers. Grill, turning with tongs, until lightly browned and cooked through, 1 to 3 minutes per side (2 to 6 minutes in all). Brush the sates once or twice with the reserved marinade before turning.