{"id":1131,"date":"2009-05-07T23:45:29","date_gmt":"2009-05-08T04:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crankymouse.com\/?p=1131"},"modified":"2009-05-08T00:34:21","modified_gmt":"2009-05-08T05:34:21","slug":"chicken-satay-with-pineapple-planks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/2009\/05\/07\/chicken-satay-with-pineapple-planks\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicken Satay with Pineapple Planks"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m not Japanese, I don’t claim to know anything about Japan.\u00a0 I do watch Iron Chef, but the only things I learn from that are how to make fish ice cream and brain pudding.\u00a0 You will not find these things in my posts.\u00a0 I do, however, dabble in very Americanized Asian cuisine.<\/p>\n

A few years ago I found an easy recipe for teriyaki sauce, and since then, I have modified it,\u00a0made it a dozen times and experimented with it on various meats.\u00a0 Some have been successful, others have not, and as far as the O6 is concerned, this one I’m about to describe for you is the family favorite.\u00a0 And since it is such a favorite, I decided to give you a two-for-one today and include a wickedly simple side that is a “can’t miss” with kids and adults alike.<\/p>\n

This dish has been described as a chicken satay, although to be more technically Japanese it would be more appropriately called yakitori, or in other words “on a stick” which also happens to be the preferred serving method for any food item at the Minnesota State Fair<\/a>.\u00a0 I think you’ll find that this one is easy to pull off, great to make ahead of time and perfect for feeding a large group and the accompanying pineapple planks might make you a local legend.<\/p>\n

Let’s get on with it, beginning with the marinade.<\/p>\n

\"Chicken<\/a><\/p>\n

In a large zip top bag, combine:<\/p>\n

\u00bd cup soy sauce<\/p>\n

\u00bc cup brown sugar<\/p>\n

2 tbsp freshly grated ginger<\/p>\n

3-4 cloves of garlic<\/p>\n

\u00bd tsp white pepper<\/p>\n

\u00bd tsp fresh black pepper<\/p>\n

While you’re doing this, put ten or so bamboo skewers into a vessel of water to soak.<\/p>\n

\"Skewers\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A few tips on the above:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. For the ginger, I peel it with a vegetable peeler and then use the garlic press to pulverize it.\u00a0 This frees up a lot of juice, and reduces the solids down to nothing.\u00a0 It saves time and releases tons of flavor.<\/li>\n
  2. You don’t need white pepper, but I like to use it in my pseudo-Asian dishes.\u00a0 If you don’t have any, just use more black pepper (but promise me that you’ll grind it fresh)<\/li>\n
  3. Some recipes call for simmering the whole mixture to reduce it.\u00a0 That is great if you have the time, but I’ve found that when you use it as a baste and marinade, it doesn’t matter too much.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"Ginja\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    \"Press\"<\/a>\"White<\/a> <\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

    To this bag, add about 6-8 boneless chicken breasts cut the long way into halves or thirds.<\/p>\n

    \"Chicken<\/a><\/p>\n

    Give everything a good shake and let it sit for as long as you can.\u00a0 Overnight in the fridge is perfect, but as usual, I can’t plan that far ahead so if I can get them in for an hour, I’m lucky.\u00a0 It still works out fine this way.<\/p>\n

    Warm up the grill when you start getting hungry.\u00a0 If you’re making the pineapple planks, now would be a good time to prep them.\u00a0 This is probably the easiest thing you’ll ever find here.\u00a0 You will need the following:<\/p>\n

    1 whole pineapple<\/p>\n

    Yep, that’s it.\u00a0 All the work is in the preparation.\u00a0 Start by lopping the top off, then peel the skin with a long thin knife.\u00a0 Chop off the bottom and cut it lengthwise into quarters.\u00a0 Cut the core out of the middle and then cut the quarters (again lengthwise) into three or four planks.\u00a0 There.\u00a0 Done.
    <\/p>\n

    \"pineapple-chop\"<\/a>
    <\/p>\n

    Well, not totally.\u00a0 Put them aside for later and find something to drink.\u00a0 Here’s a little something I invented after a trip to Big Lots turned up a 60-cent bottle of “Spicy Ginger” made by Adina World Beat Beverages<\/a>.\u00a0 Add ice and rum and you’ve got a party for one.\u00a0 The flavors are well suited to this meal as well, so give one a try if you can track down the mixer.<\/p>\n

    \"dsc00143-640x480\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Your grill is probably hot by now.\u00a0 It’s time to poke the chicken.\u00a0 Retrieve the skewers from their bath, and grab the chicken from the fridge.\u00a0 Then run the skewers through the chicken strips, putting one or two pieces on each skewer.\u00a0 Pile them on a plate and head for the grill.<\/p>\n

    \"Chicken<\/a><\/p>\n

    Once the grill is hot (400 degrees), turn the burners down to low\/medium and lay out the chicken.\u00a0 Stay close to these, they cook quickly.\u00a0 Flip and twist every two minutes to produce a nice crosshatch pattern.\u00a0 The nice thing about this marinade is that the sugars caramelize well and produce nice dark lines.\u00a0 This makes for a great presentation.\u00a0 As you’re flipping, use the leftover marinade to baste the meat.\u00a0 I should point out that this is ok, but NEVER use leftover marinade as a sauce later.\u00a0 It is fine for a baste because any nasty raw meat stuff will cook, but as a table sauce, since it hasn’t been cooked, you don’t get that protection.<\/p>\n

    \"Hot<\/a><\/p>\n

    Alongside the chicken, you will want to introduce the pineapple.\u00a0 Bare.\u00a0 Nothing else needed.\u00a0 Although, if you wanted to, you could dust them with some cayenne pepper, or paint them with some hot sauce.\u00a0 The sweet and hot combo is unbelievable.\u00a0 I didn’t do it this time, but I’ve found that pineapple has a way of absorbing the heat and then balancing it with the sweet juice to result in a fantastic engagement of flavors. \u00a0I tend to find the hotter parts of the grill for these.<\/p>\n

    \"Together<\/a><\/p>\n

    But back to the meal at hand.\u00a0 Flip and turn your items until they have reached proper doneness.\u00a0 The chicken should have nice lines and the inside should be white, no pink or anything like that.\u00a0 The pineapple should be shrinking up just a bit, and it too, because of the sugars in it should develop some nice grill marks.<\/p>\n

    As usual, remove the chicken and the pineapple to foil lined pans and let them rest a few minutes while you get the table ready.\u00a0 The marinade here helps keep the chicken from drying out too much, so if you overcook a bit, no one will know the difference.<\/p>\n

    \"Chicken<\/a><\/p>\n

    \"Pineapple<\/a><\/p>\n

    So, is this authentic?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Is it delicious?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 And that’s what matters.\u00a0 This combo works equally well for salmon (minus the skewers) or beef (leave the skewers), but the chicken version always results in clean plates and plenty of requests for seconds.<\/p>\n

    \"Ready<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I’m not Japanese, I don’t claim to know anything about Japan.\u00a0 I do watch Iron Chef, but the only things I learn from that are how to make fish ice cream and brain pudding.\u00a0 You will not find these things in my posts.\u00a0 I do, however, dabble in very Americanized Asian cuisine. A few years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,12,30,13,10],"tags":[39,95,36,97,96,94,99,93,98],"class_list":{"0":"post-1131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-featured","7":"category-from-the-patio","8":"category-main-course","9":"category-make-ahead-meals","10":"category-recipes","11":"tag-chicken","12":"tag-ginger","13":"tag-grill","14":"tag-japanese","15":"tag-marinade","16":"tag-pineapple","17":"tag-skewer","18":"tag-teriyaki","19":"tag-yakitori","20":"entry","21":"has-post-thumbnail"},"mv":{"thumbnail_id":null,"thumbnail_uri":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1131"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1163,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1131\/revisions\/1163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}