Pork satay with peanut sauce
Turmeric and coconut marinated pork broiled until charred, dipped in a creamy, spicy peanut sauce and served with rice and cucumber.
- 60 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 4
- About $3.05 a serving
- 700 calories
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 can light coconut milk, divided
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 2 tbsp fish sauce, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced, divided
- 1 pork tenderloin, about 1¼ lb
- 1½ cups jasmine rice
- ⅓ cup peanut butter
- 1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 1 lime
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 2 tbsp peanuts, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tbsp brown sugar, divided
- 2¼ cups water
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Each serving has about 700 calories, 42 g protein, 74 g carbs and 27 g fat, and costs about $3.05 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No jasmine rice? Long-grain white rice or basmati rice works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No cucumbers? English cucumbers or mini cucumbers work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Stir ¼ cup of the coconut milk with the curry powder, turmeric, 1 tbsp each of the fish sauce and brown sugar, and 2 cloves of the garlic in a bowl.
the pork, cut it into long strips about ½ inch thick, them in the bowl, and them in the fridge, covered, for 30 minutes, or up to a day.
Trim. Trimming means cutting off the parts you don’t eat, like stem ends, tough bits or thick fat. It keeps chewy or bitter bits out of the finished dish.
How you’ll know: What’s left is the good part, with no dry ends, woody stems or thick white fat.
Lengthwise. Lengthwise means cutting along the long side, from stem to tip, which gives long pieces. Crosswise is the other way, straight across the middle, which gives short, round ones.
How you’ll know: Lengthwise halves of a zucchini look like two little canoes; crosswise pieces look like coins.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Marinate. Marinating means letting food sit in a flavorful liquid, called a marinade, before you cook it. Always marinate in the fridge, and never reuse marinade from raw meat unless you boil it first.
How you’ll know: The food is coated all over, sealed in a bag or covered dish, and chilling in the fridge.
Timer: 30 min
the rice and bring it with the water in a .
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook 15 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
the rest of the coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar and garlic with the peanut butter and curry paste in a small saucepan and over medium-low 3 to 4 minutes, until thick. Squeeze in half the lime.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: It thickens as it cools. Stir in a spoonful of water if it gets too stiff to dip.Turn on the with a rack about 4 inches below it, line a with foil, and brush it with the oil. Lay the pork strips on it flat, or thread them onto skewers if you like.
Broil. Broiling means cooking under the oven’s top heating element, with strong heat from above. It browns and crisps the top in minutes, and it can burn fast, so stay close.
How you’ll know: The top bubbles and spots golden brown; check every minute and pull it before it blackens.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
4 to 5 minutes a side, until at the edges and the middle of a strip reads 145°F.
Broil. Broiling means cooking under the oven’s top heating element, with strong heat from above. It browns and crisps the top in minutes, and it can burn fast, so stay close.
How you’ll know: The top bubbles and spots golden brown; check every minute and pull it before it blackens.
Char. Charring means cooking over very high heat until some spots turn black. Those dark spots add a smoky, slightly bitter flavor that balances sweet or rich food.
How you’ll know: You see black spots and blisters in places, while most of the surface keeps its own color.
Timer: 4 min 30 sec
Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Serve the pork over rice with the cucumber, the peanut sauce for dipping, the peanuts on top and the rest of the lime in wedges.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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