Do you ever go to a Thai restaurant and order the chicken satay starter just for the amazing spicy peanut dip it comes with? In fact, I love that sauce so much that I would go to a Thai restaurant solely to seek it out, and then scoop every last morsel out of the dip pot with my finger! Don’t pretend you haven’t done it too. In order to avoid such breaches of restaurant etiquette, and to be able to eat this sauce all the time, I have created this recipe for satay beef, meaning you can eat the delicious sauce with your entire meal, and without getting funny looks from waiters. I serve the dish with coconut rice, another thing that lures me into my local Thai. It is essentially rice cooked in fat, but it isn’t half tasty!
Ingredients (serves two with enough beef for lunch tomorrow)
300g thin beef/minute steak
1 red pepper, sliced finely
1 onion, sliced finely
1 head pak choi, broken into individual leaves
3 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
400ml can of coconut milk
2 tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
A one inch piece of ginger peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon sesame oil
300g of basmati or jasmine rice
300ml of water
1 stick of lemongrass
Directions
Add rice to a lidded, preferably non-stick saucepan with 300mls coconut milk (3/4 of the can), 300mls water and the stick of lemon grass. Bring to the boil, then turn hob down to lowest heat and simmer/steam for about 9 mins (check rice packet instructions). In this time all the water and coconut milk should have soaked up and there is no need to drain.
Meanwhile, heat the sesame oil in a wok until very hot. Add ginger, chilli and garlic and fry for 1 min.
Add beef, pepper and onion to the pan and fry for a further 3-4 mins until the beef begins to brown.
Stir in peanut butter, sweet chilli sauce and coconut milk, and reduce on a high heat until the sauce is thick and sticky. This should only take a few minutes.
Serve 2/3 of the beef mixture with the coconut rice. Check back later for a great packed lunch idea you can make with the rest!