Chicken satay with Vietnamese salad

SERVES 4

Sometimes when you are cooking you just have to make do with what you have available, even if it doesn’t quite fit in with your idea of a dish. Don’t be afraid to improvise when it comes to food – this salad is a case in point. I had thought to make a coleslaw to go with the skewers but the only place I could shop was at a little Vietnamese garden market. They had some beautiful fresh market produce but not one cabbage or carrot in sight! So I went with the flow, bought the freshest ingredients – in fact I picked them myself – and made this slaw-type salad. For me, part of what makes a good slaw is how finely shredded all the ingredients are, and the other part is the dressing.

1 teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

½ teaspoon ground lemon myrtle

3 skinless free-range chicken breasts

VIETNAMESE SALAD

1 bok choy (pak choy), trimmed

½ long Chinese radish

3 radishes

10 fresh mint leaves

1 pink grapefruit

185 g (6½ oz/¾ cup) good-quality mayonnaise

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1½ teaspoons caster (superfine) sugar

a small pinch of ground white pepper

40 g (1½ oz/¼ cup) cashews, lightly crushed

fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, to garnish

SATAY SAUCE

1 tablespoon peanut oil

1 small onion, finely diced

1 garlic clove, finely sliced

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 long red chilli, finely sliced

80 ml (2½ fl oz/¹/₃ cup) coconut milk

125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) Coopers Original Pale Ale

160 g (5¾ oz/²/₃ cup) crunchy peanut butter

3 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

juice of ½ lemon

1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

Soak some wooden skewers in water for an hour so they don’t scorch when you put them on the barbecue.

In a bowl, combine the salt, pepper and lemon myrtle. Carefully cut each chicken breast into thin slices about 4 mm (¹/₆ inch) thick and 8–10 cm (3¼–4 inches) long. Thread each slice lengthways onto a skewer and season with the spice mix. Set aside until ready to cook. You can easily make these a day ahead – just cover them with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge.

To make the satay sauce, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the coconut milk, beer and peanut butter and stir or whisk until well combined. Stir in the soy sauce and the sugar, and finally the lemon juice and coriander. Spoon off any oil that rises to the top; if need be you can add a little water or beer to thin the sauce out.

To make the salad, very finely slice the bok choy stalks lengthways, then finely slice the leaves. Cut the Chinese radish into very fine julienne about 7.5 cm (3 inches) long. Finely julienne the other radishes, and finely slice the mint. Place them all in a large bowl. Cut the peel off the grapefruit, removing all the white pith and exposing the flesh. Working over a bowl to catch the juices, cut the fleshy segments from their membranes. Cut the segments into small cubes, then add half the grapefruit to the salad and mix thoroughly. Pour about 3 tablespoons of the reserved grapefruit juice into a bowl, then add the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, pepper and a pinch of sea salt and give it a good mix. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Add most of the dressing to the salad and mix again, then add the rest if you think it needs it. Pile the salad in the middle of a large, flat serving plate, then garnish with the remaining grapefruit, cashews and some coriander leaves.

Cook the chicken skewers on a hot barbecue grill until done, 4–5 minutes each side. Arrange on a large plate and drizzle with some of the satay sauce. Serve the rest of the sauce in a bowl on the side, for extra dipping.

Beer Notes

You could also use a malt-driven English pale ale from English brewers such as Bass, Boddingtons, Fuller’s or Samuel Smiths