How To Make Pork Satay Skewers

Today on the blog, we are going to take a look at how to make my version of Pork Satay Skewers. The marinade we are going to use on the pork can also be used with chicken, beef, lamb, shrimp, scallops, or even fish. So, it's very versatile. We are also going to take a look at what I consider to be a proper meat skewering technique. We have a lot to cover, so let's get to it.

Jump to:

• What is Satay?
• The Marinade
• Skewering the Meat
• The Skewers
• Cooking the Skewers
• Recipe
• Final Thoughts

What is Satay?

Before we get into this, we should first answer the question: What is Satay? At its core, satay is just seasoned and skewered meat, generally served with a sauce, cooked over an open flame. Most of the time, some sort of peanut-based sauce or marinade is used. Satay originates in Indonesia and is their national dish. However, it is popular all around Southeast Asia. If you enjoy Southeast Asian flavours, you might also like my post on mastering the stir fry.

The Marinade

Typically, satay is served with a peanut sauce; however, I wanted to do something a little different with my version. For mine, I put the peanut in the marinade. The only real reason for this is because I didn't want to make a sauce. I wanted all the flavour to come from the meat itself.

For whatever reason I didn't take the normal walkthrough photos that I generally do for the marinade. So all I have for that part of the process is the written recipe below.

Skewering the Meat

There are three main ways to skewer meat:

1. Cubed: Cut the meat into evenly sized cubes and skewer them.
2. Long strip: Cut the meat into thin strips and skewer the meat as one long piece.
3. Threaded ribbon (my preference): Cut the meat into thin strips and thread it onto the skewer in a folded ribbon pattern.

As you can see in the pictures below, the meat is placed on the skewer like a folded ribbon, with the bamboo skewer going straight up the middle. I prefer this technique for a few different reasons. First of all, I find that with this technique, as opposed to the two other techniques, the meat stays on the skewer much better when cooking. The second reason I prefer this technique is that the meat cooks more evenly. If you find that you prefer one of the other techniques, by all means use it -- I just find that this technique works best for me.

The Skewers

I just wanted to touch really quickly on the skewers that I used for this. They are paddle-style bamboo skewers, meaning they have an offset handle at the end. They are ten or twelve inches long and are square-shaped rather than round. I find that the square shape really helps to keep the meat in place, unlike round skewers.

However, you can use whatever skewer you have or can find. Just make sure to soak them in water for at least an hour prior to skewering the meat and grilling. This will help to prevent the skewers from catching on fire.

Cooking the Skewers

To cook the skewers I first preheated my grill on medium-high for about ten minutes. This makes sure that the grates are hot enough to sear the meat, which helps prevent them from sticking. I do not oil my grill, ever. As long as the grates are given enough time to get hot, there should never be an issue with sticking.

The heat on my grill is not even, so to make sure the skewers are getting even heat, I put the skewers on the grill, let them sit for about two minutes, then took the one from the back of the grill, moved it to the front of the grill, and pushed the rest back. I did this about every two minutes. After about five minutes of total cooking, I flipped the skewers and then continued with the skewer rotation for another five minutes or until they were cooked through.

Recipe

Final Thoughts

These pork satay skewers have become one of my favourite things to throw on the grill during the summer, and the peanut-based marinade works just as well on chicken, beef, or even shrimp. I served them with steamed rice and stir-fried vegetables, but they're equally great as a party snack all on their own.