Shrimp Satay Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce (or, What I Have In My Kitchen)

Things I love about cooking: you can completely make it up as you go along!

More things I love about cooking: since I do it a lot, I already have a lot of things you might need on hand. So there is less you have to make up.

I was in the mood for a very light dinner, browsing on my pinterest, and came across this appetizer recipe for shrimp satay with a spicy peanut dipping sauce (from one of my absolute favorite food blogs, Closet Cooking). After running through the ingredients and realizing I HAD MOST OF THEM (cue excitement about the exotic Asian ingredients in my pantry), I decided to make it and just throw it on top of some of the pounds and pounds of fresh spinach leaves left over in my fridge from New Years. Because when I went shopping on New Years’ Eve, the only package left was the huge 10 oz package. So I’ll be eating spinach salad for quite some time.

Anyhow, for the shrimp I used this recipe:

Shrimp Satay with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds (toasted and ground)
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds (toasted and ground)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric (ground)
• 2 stalks lemongrass (peeled & chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (grated)
• 1 tablespoon galangal (or ginger, grated)
• 1 lime (juice and zest)
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons palm sugar (grated or brown sugar)
• 1 pound shrimp (shelled and deveined)

Except I only used 6 shrimp to top my salad and didn’t measure any of the ingredients (just tried to put in relevant amounts, but less of everything). I also do not actually keep lemongrass in my fridge. So I ignored that I did not have it! I threw a splash of lemon juice in it but I’m pretty sure that’s not the same….

Additionally, I have researched marinating a little this summer and apparently it actually has very little to do with tenderization, etc. Plus seafood is not supposed to marinate for very long. So I was not really worried about the length of time to marinate (or a food processor to mix), so I just whisked together what I had, made sure the shrimp were covered, and put it in the fridge until I was ready. Which was probably about 30 minutes. Give. Or take. Whatever.

In the meantime, I put together the peanut sauce using the following recipe:

Thai Spicy Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 tablespoon panang curry paste or red curry paste
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon chili sauce (or 1 birds eye chili, sliced)
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons peanuts (roasted and crushed)

Things I did not have: peanut oil, chili sauce/birds eye chili, peanuts. Oh well!

I used canola oil instead to mix with red curry paste. I mixed those for a moment, then added the rest of the ingredients (again not measuring….) and simmered for a little to thicken. Then I tasted.

Hmmmm. Pretty sure I should have measured at this point. Because I’m pretty sure I put in too much fish sauce.

To fix, I just added more coconut milk and brown sugar to taste, in order to sweeten it up a little. It was too tangy initially.

Finally, I pulled out the shrimp and rather than grilling (due to my lack of a grill…sigh) just pan seared it at medium high heat, in order to get a sear to it. Just for a couple minutes!

All went over the spinach. Voila! Quick, healthy dinner. The shrimp were delectable. And next time I make a peanut sauce for a a salad, I’ll make it more of a dressing, less of a sauce.