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Singapore Satay

Spicy but not too spicy! Great for a holiday get-together or a summer BBQ. A favorite in my family, from youngest to oldest. Serve traditionally with spicy Javanese or Thai peanut sauce.

By tastykitchen · From Open Recipes · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Coriander and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,866 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 6
Prep6 hr
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Toast the coriander seeds and fennel seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant, then let them cool.

  2. Blend the toasted seeds with the shallots, garlic, lemongrass, red chili, ginger, brown sugar, turmeric, cumin, salt, tamarind juice and vegetable oil into a smooth paste.

  3. Put the chicken strips in a bowl, add the paste and toss until every strip is coated. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours.

  4. Soak wooden skewers in a pan of water for 30 minutes so they do not burn.

  5. Thread the marinated chicken strips onto the skewers, pressing gently so each strip lies flat.

  6. Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Cook the skewers for 8 to 10 minutes, turning every 2 to 3 minutes, until the chicken reaches 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part.

  7. Serve the satay hot.

By tastykitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Coriander + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,866 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Coriander + gingertop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,504 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Cumin + tamarindtop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together184 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  4. Fennel + cumintop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together276 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  5. Coriander + fenneltop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together426 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, coriander, sugar, ginger, fennel, cumin, tamarind):

  1. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  2. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  3. Carrotbetter flavor fit
  4. Shallotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, coriander, sugar, ginger, fennel, cumin, tamarind. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).