I got married in Bali so it is one of my special places. I love the food it’s totally different to Chinese or Japanese food. I’ve also been to Thailand and Malaysia and satay is one of my favourites. Satay means skewer so it’s not the sauce but it was served as a dipping sauce for the skewers. It was raining so I didn’t use the BBQ. So I thought I would use steak instead with a quick marinade. It was so good! For the sauce I used smooth and crunchy peanut butter so it had texture.

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the steak

• 1 sirloin steak, 180-200g
• 2 tbsp yellow or red Thai curry paste
• I tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled and grated or finely chopped m
• 1 thumb piece fresh ginger , grated or finely chopped, I leave the skin on
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ghee or oil for frying

For the satay sauce

• 1 tbsp smooth peanut butter
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tsp creamed coconut
• Juice 2 limes
• 1 tsp Sriracha
• Splash fish sauce (nam plah)
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
• Good pinch of ground Szechuan peppercorns or black pepper
• 1-2 tbsp hot water
• 2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

For the pickled cucumbers

• 4 baby cucumbers
• 2 tbsp black Chinese black vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1-2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• Good pinch of sugar, I used golden caster
• 1 tbsp fresh coriander, leaves only roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, set aside a tsp for sprinkling after plating

Directions

For the steak

1. In a bowl add all of the ingredients and give them a good stir to combine apart from the steak and ghee
2. Add the steak and give it a good rub in the marinade flipping it over so it’s all covered.
3. Cover with cling film and pop in the fridge for at least 30 minutes as long as you can is best, like overnight
4. When you’re ready to cook the steak . Heat the ghee in a frying pan over a high heat. Add the steak, don’t touch it and fry for 3 minutes. Flip and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Remove and loosely wrap in foil to allow it to rest.

For the satay sauce

1. Put all of the ingredients apart from the crunchy peanut butter and hot water in a food processor. Blitz until smooth. Add the crunchy peanut butter, stir and check the consistency. Add the hot water a splash at a time and just pulse the food processor until you get the consistency you like.

For the pickled cucumbers

1. Add all the ingredients apart from the cucumbers and coriander to a bowl and stir to combine
2. To make the cucumber slices a bit prettier, before you slice use a fork or zester down the sides. Slice about 1/2 cm thick.
3. Add the sliced cucumber and coriander to the bowl and give them a toss. Set aside until you are ready to serve. When you serve sprinkle over the remaining sesame seeds.
4. Assemble by adding all the components to a serving dish with rice or bread.