Indonesian Chicken Satay: Sate Ayam

There are many kinds of satays or kebabs from various countries, and with different names for the food product, but they are all based upon meat, fish, vegetables or fruits on skewers that are cooked, often by grilling or broiling. "Shish kebabs" and Peruvian "anticuchos"* are examples.

 

"Kecap manis" is a sweet and thick soy sauce, unlike most other types of soy sauce, and it is available in many supermarkets and Asian grocery stores. From my experience, it comes in taller bottles than regular soy sauce. You can use boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh meat, and while bamboo skewers are traditional, any wooden skewers are fine; just be sure to soak them in water for 20 to 30 minutes before using. Of course, you can use metal skewers too. 

Ingredients (for 15 skewers):

15 wooden skewers (soaked in water for 20 to 30 minutes, traditionally bamboo, but I'm sure Indonesians won't put you onto a skewer and then throw you into Mt. Krakatoa, although you will undoubtedly cook well, YEEEOOOWWW!)

1 to 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken, cut into about 1 inch cubes

2/3 cup sweet soy sauce (traditionally 'kecap manis,' or substitute slightly less than 2/3 cup regular soy sauce mixed with 2 tablespoons molasses or maple syrup, but ... see the note in 'skewers' above about the potential 'penalty')

(optional) 1 teaspoon fresh chopped chili pepper or 1 teaspoon sambal oelek** 

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon sesame oil for the sauce + a little more for basting the chicken when cooking

1/2 cup coconut milk

Mix together the kecap manis (or soy sauce/molasses/syrup), chili pepper (if using), ground coriander, garlic powder, salt, ground black pepper and tablespoon of sesame oil. Toss the chicken cubes in the sauce mixture, cover the dish and refrigerate to marinate the chicken for a minimum of 1 hour, but 8 to 12 hours is better. You can grill or broil the chicken. Be sure to soak the skewers in water for 20 to 30 minutes before putting the chicken onto them. Let excess marinade drain into the bowl you used for marinating the chicken pieces and keep it (see further below). Put like 4 to 6 pieces of the chicken on each skewer, and allow a little space between the pieces. Grill or broil the chicken, turning the skewers often, and use a brush to baste the chicken pieces with a little sesame oil as it cooks. Cook the chicken until the pieces are getting a little charred appearance (I said "a little charred appearance," not burnt or ashes ... hahaha), likely 6 to 10 minutes. Pour the marinade liquid into a pan, then stir in the coconut milk. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce the heat to maintain a bare simmer for about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often. Serve the sauce in a separate dish for dipping the chicken and serve the chicken along with some rice.

 

* For Peruvian Anticuchos, here is the link:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/09/peruvian-kebabs-anticuchos.html

 

** Sambal Oelek is a chunky hot chili pepper sauce. It should be easily found in the Asian section, or in the hot sauce section, of supermarkets. It is pretty common is the U.S.and it is not expensive, although the price may vary by brand. 

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Cockatoo-This word for some of the prominently crested birds of the parrot family has an uncertain origin, although it may simply be a name derived from the imitation of the sounds made by such birds, as these birds are chatty. It goes back to Malay^ "kakatua," which was borrowed by Dutch as "kaketoe" (the Dutch were very involved in southern Asia from the 1500s until 1945. Indonesia was long a Dutch colony called "(the) Dutch East Indies" until 1945. Dutch "kaketoe" was borrowed by English in the 1630s (some sources say about 15 years earlier) as "cockatoo." Note: While the name may be from the sound of the birds, Malay "kakatua" pretty much literally translates to "older sister." If true, why the use of the term is difficult to understand, but far stranger words have developed among humans. Of course too, it could indeed be from the imitation of the bird sounds and the word adjusted to conform to the "older sister" term's phonetic spelling.

^  "Malay" is from the overall Austronesian family of languages of southeast Asia and many Pacific islands, where "Malay" is part of the subfamily "Malayo-Polynesian." 

Algerian Sweet Couscous: Mesfouf

Couscous is one of the basic foods of North Africa and it can be savory or sweet. Couscous is a pasta of semolina, and it can be very fine grains of pasta (Moroccan style) or the somewhat larger type (Israeli style, also called 'pearl' couscous) or the pea sized (Lebanese style). The basic sweet couscous dish is common throughout much of North Africa, but there are many variations for the specific recipes. It is very popular as a breakfast dish during the month of Ramadan, a Muslim spiritual period that includes fasting from sunrise to sunset; thus, breakfast is eaten before sunrise. It is often eaten accompanied by a glass of  "leben,"* which is North African buttermilk; that is, fermented milk that has the butter removed, with water then added to thin it. Some North Africans also put buttermilk over the couscous to make a cereal type dish, with some even heating the buttermilk a little.     

Ingredients: 

 

1 1/2 cups Moroccan couscous

1 2/3 cups water

4 tablespoons melted butter + 1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup golden raisins 

1/4 cup chopped dates

2 to 3 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

chopped nuts like hazelnuts or almonds

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

 

In a sauce pan (use a pan large enough to hold the cooked couscous, as it will absorb the water and expand in size), heat the water to boiling, stir in the couscous, cook for about 30 seconds, stirring the couscous a couple of times, then put the lid on the pan and remove the pan from the heat. Let the covered couscous sit for about 5 to 6 minutes, then check to see if the water has been absorbed. Fluff the cooked couscous with a fork. Melt the butter (do not brown the butter) and mix in the honey and olive oil while the butter is warm. Add the melted butter and honey mixture, cinnamon, raisins, chopped dates, chopped nuts and chopped mint, mix well.

* In parts of the Middle East, the same term means "yogurt."

 

For the photos, I simply put some of the Algerian Sweet Couscous in a small tart pan to mold it and then transfered it to a small serving plate. Served with a glass of  buttermilk ...

WORD HISTORY:

Cinnamon-The ancient origin of this word for particular types of tree bark used as a spice is unclear, but there's a "possibility" it goes back to Malay, one of the languages of the Austronesian family of languages, which had a word like "kyumanes" or "kayumans." It eventually made it into the Semitic languages of the Middle Eastern area (Hebrew has transliterated "qinmon/qynmwn"), including Phoenician, which is likely how it was borrowed by Ancient Greek which had transliterated "kinnamomom," and also the shorter "kinnamom." Latin borrowed the word as "cinnamum," which then passed into Latin-based Old French as "cinnamone." English borrowed the word in the latter part of the 1300s. Remember, spices of various kinds, including cinnamon, came into Europe from elsewhere, and thus originally, there was no word for "cinnamon" in Europe. Centuries ago, cinnamon and other spices from the Middle East, North Africa or elsewhere were of very limited supply, they were, therefore, very expensive. Close English cousin German has the substantially shortened form "Zimt," but Low German has "Kaneel," a word likely borrowed either directly from French or via Dutch, which had it as a diminutive from Latin "canna," which meant "reed;" thus also, "the substance that makes up a reed." So Low German's form is obviously a reference to the rolled bark of cinnamon looking like reeds. 

Polynesian Chicken

When I see or hear the term "Polynesian Chicken," I think of pineapple. I checked something like 25 recipes prior to writing this, and all but ONE had pineapple as one of the ingredients. I believe I'd only had "Polynesian Chicken" once or twice in my life, but it doesn't seem to be a recipe that is very commonly made today. My recollection is that when I was a kid the dish was much more common, perhaps because Hawaii had recently become a state. Hm, Hawaii and pineapple, gee who would have thunk... ah, thought it? Anyway, I was watching an episode of the 1960's comedy, "McHale's Navy," and "Polynesian Chicken" was part of the story. That made me wonder just what I knew about this dish. As I checked various recipes, I found that pineapple and pineapple juice were the ingredients that seemed to make the dish "Polynesian," although some recipes also included pieces of orange, while others used lemon peel, as well orange juice, lemon juice or lime juice. I fixed the "Polynesian Chicken" a couple of ways, as one had more vinegar and soy sauce than the recipe below, but I didn't really care for that version. I really like the version I put together below, and I will likely make it again soon.  

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, cubed (I used 1/2 pound white + 1/2 pound dark)
2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
1 cup chopped green onion (with some green)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup pineapple chunks
1/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup rice vinegar (or cider vinegar)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon lime juice

3 tablespoons butter 

2/3 teaspoon ground white pepper (black pepper is fine too)

3 to 4 tablespoons cornstarch (depending upon desired thickness) mixed with an equal amount of water

2 tablespoons oil (canola or vegetable oil)

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the ginger, the green onion and the red bell pepper. When these ingredients begin to soften (they will cook further), add the pineapple juice and let it heat. Add the chicken, the pineapple, the brown sugar, the honey, the vinegar, the soy and the ketchup; stir to mix well. Cook until the chicken is tender. Add the white pepper and the lime juice, stir to mix. Gradually add the cornstarch and water mixture, stirring constantly, and maintaining the heat level until the desired thickness is reached. Add the butter and stir until the butter is melted and mixed in. Serve with rice.

WORD HISTORY:
Ukulele-The more distant history of this word for a small guitar type of instrument is tough to track down with any certainty, but the first part of word is related to "cootie," a general slang English word for "louse." The word "cootie" was borrowed in southeastern Asia from Malay "kutu" during British involvement there,^ and during the trench warfare of World War One, and the resulting lice infestations, the word became popularized as a slang term in English. "Kutu" meant "small insect, flea." "Lele" meant "jump, leap," so the compound literally meant, "jumping flea or insect," perhaps from the notion of the fingers "jumping" from string to string? The ukulele seems to have been a Hawaiian version of a similar instrument, the machete, they'd seen and experienced from the Portuguese who brought it to Hawaii in the mid 1800s. English borrowed the word in the latter part of the 1800s. When I was a kid, ukuleles were very popular, helped along by Arthur Godfrey, an American television personality, who played the ukulele on his show. In the 1960s, along came musician Tiny Tim, and he too became famous for his ukulele play, especially his signature song, "Tiptoe Through the Tulips."       

^ "Malay" is from the overall Austronesian family of languages of southeast Asia and many Pacific islands, where "Malay" is part of the subfamily "Malayo-Polynesian."