Chicken Satay

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We were supposed to host a barbecue yesterday but our intended guests begged off at the last minute leaving us with a lot of chicken, pork, and cocktail drink mixers. No problem. We mixed the drinks anyway, had our fill of Margaritas in our new Margarita glasses last night, and then grilled the pork teriyaki and chicken satay for dinner tonight. In short, we cooked everything that we intended for the barbecue, including a large bowl of chicken and potato salad.

In a large bowl, place the rest of the ingredients. Beat with a wire whisk until smooth. Add the chicken pieces, and mix well, rubbing the marinade into the meat with your hands. Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge for at least two hours.

While the chicken marinates, soak 12 to 18 bamboo skewers in water to prevent them from burning on the grill. Making the dipping sauce for the chicken satay. Simmer the reserved marinade until thick, about 15 minutes. Thread the marinated chicken in the bamboo skewers (5 pieces per skewer is a good number). Grill at least six inches from the heat (peanut butter burns fast), 4 to 5 minutes per side depending on the size of the chicken pieces. Serve the grilled chicken satay with the dipping sauce on the side.

Adobo, Quail Eggs, and Rice

I’ve cooked this dish twice the first time, I can’t remember anymore and, the second time, for the noche buena episode of Jessica Soho’s show on GMA Channel 7 which was scheduled to air last Saturday, December 15th, but didn’t. There are slight differences between the two versions. The first time I cooked this adobo, quail eggs, and rice dish, I dropped the shelled hard-boiled quail eggs into the adobo sauce and simmered them for a few minutes so that the eggs became light brown. I used chopped onion leaves for garnish.

The second time I cooked the same dish, I did not add the quail eggs until I was assembling the dish. In terms of color contrast, the dish looks so much better with the eggs all white instead of brown. Second, I used snipped cilantro (wansuy) for garnish. It’s a trick I learned from Mark Bittman in his book The Best Recipes in the World. Cilantro gives adobo a piquant taste that is indescribably wonderful.