Discovering Corinne Trang: 2 weeks later we had Beef Satay with Peanut Sauce


After reading of Corinne Trang's Korean Barbecued Chicken in late June, I immediately went on a hunt for the cookbook, Essentials of Asian Cuisine that Luisa Weiss used.  I used Amazon to look at the book via the "look inside" option and found that she had a recipe for chicken satay that got me talking about grill pans, bamboo skewers and ordering the book all at once.

I ordered the book June 29th, a Saturday.  Less than two weeks later, I had gone to a local Asian grocery store asking everyone where to find shrimp paste.  By July 13th, two Saturdays after discovering Corinne Trang's book, I had borrowed a grill pan, bought the ingredients and grilled 8 skewers of marinated beef sirloin and made the peanut sauce.  My Husband and I ate 4 skewers for lunch with generous dipping into the peanut sauce.  In short, we loved it.


Saturday night, I cooked up some noodles - I used Mak Kuk Soo noodles by Kikkokin, that I got from the Asian grocery.  I bought them because they looked wonderful, so strait and uniform in their packaging; they immediately caught my eye on the shelf.  My Husband and I love noodles.  These noodles, when cooked and rinsed with water as the package instructs, were so lovely, soft and glistening.  I was dreaming of the noodles, hot with butter and with the grilled skewered meat added.  Then my Husband, logically, suggested adding the peanut sauce.

Sunday night found me talking with my Mom on the phone while mixing cold re-rinsed noodles (rinsing these particular noodles made them slippery and easy to stir), adding about 2/3 cup of peanut sauce and removing the meat from the remaining 4 skewers of grilled marinated beef sirloin and cutting each piece in half.  The meat, noodles and peanut sauce made enough for 2 full servings in a low wide soup bowl.  I reheated this dish in our microwave, 2 minutes on power level 7; then I stirred it thoroughly and reheated once more, 3 minutes on power level 8.  It was perfect.  The sauce had a lovely spiced flavour, a bit spicy with a depth of heat that stayed on the tongue but did not overwhelm.  (However, my Husband and I are fine with medium spiced dishes, so the curry paste in the sauce can be lessened for those who need mild dishes).  The noodles I used broke apart and made the meal, thick with peanut sauce, a very easy to eat meal.  We enjoyed it immensely.

In the future, I plan on using this sauce in other noodle dishes.  Making the grilled marinated meat and the peanut sauce was well worth the effort!



Nam Jim Sate Thai Peanut Dipping Sauce 

The Sate [marinated grilled beef sirloin on 12 inch bamboo water-soaked skewers]:

1 cup coconut milk (I used canned)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp fish sauce

Marinate 1 lb of thinly sliced beef sirloin in the above 3 ingredients for over 2 hours, covered in the refrigerator.

I used 8 12-inch bamboo skewers [soaked in water for over 30 minutes so that they did not burn].  I threaded the marinated beef on these pre-soaked skewers.  I used a stove-top grill pan, well oiled with coconut oil.  The skewered meat was grilled over high heat (temperature lowered later on) until the meat did not stick to the grill pan and it was not noticeably pink.  About 2 minutes each side.

The Peanut Sauce:

Approx 1 tbs of vegetable oil
1.5 tbs Thai red curry paste (I used this commercial one)
1 tbs Thai Shrimp Paste (see note about shrimp paste as the one I used had additional spices)
2 tbs brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter (I used a peanut butter that has only peanuts and salt)
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (I used a canned coconut milk)
3 tbs Tamarind extract (I used a jar of Concentrated Cooking Tamarind from our Asian Grocer)
1/3 cup of filtered water

I followed (with a few adaptions) Trang's instructions in making the sauce (and marinating the meat!).  I heated oil up in a medium sized pan and added the curry paste.  I cooked it this way for about 2 minutes.  Added the shrimp pasted and brown sugar (cooked for about 1 minute, I was not using a timer).  I added the peanut butter next.  Because I did not use ground dry peanuts like she suggested, I found the sauce very thick and so added some pre-filtered water, about 1/3 cup, enough to cover the top of the sauce before stirring it in.  Important note: stir this consistently so it does not burn.  (Ask me how I know!).  Add the coconut milk and tamarind extract and stir until combined completely.  Trang suggested gently boiling it until it was reduced by 1/3rd and thickened.  However, because I used peanut butter, it was very thick and did not reduce.  I did heat this for at least 20 minutes, on very low heat so that it did not burn.

Note: if you cannot find tamarind extract, Trang suggests the juice from one lime.

A note about the shrimp paste: 

I choose a shrimp pasted that did not have food colouring (but does have MSG).  It was called "Gach Tom Xao Dau An / Shrimp Paste with Bean Oil".  Ingredients as follows: Soybean oil, Shrimp (32%), Garlic, Water, Soy Sauce Powder, Paprika colour, Salt, Pepper.  It was made in Thailand. The other shrimp pastes at my local Asian Market were only shrimp and salt, with at least 2 food colors, including Red. 

You can use the leftovers to make the Noodles with Beef and Thai peanut sauce as described above.

Recipe adapted from Corinne Trang's Essentials of Asian Cuisine: Fundamentals and Favorite Recipes published by Simon & Schuster, 2003.

Comments

  1. Your noodles look tasty and I like your blue and white platter. I'd love to see your dish pantry. Maybe one day you'll show pics of it on your main blog.

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  2. Congratulations on your lovely new 'space'!

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  3. Oh my, how delectable those noodles and sauce/meat look! (Pardon my drool lol.) Like Granny Marigold, I too would love to see your dish pantry. I have a fondness of blue and white dishes and such! ♥

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