RECIPE DOCTOR
Molasses, soy sauce flavor chicken on skewers
By Elaine Magee
Knight Ridder News Service
Q. I'm looking for a chicken skewer recipe that doesn't have a lot of oil or fat in it. Every recipe I have found in my cookbooks contains a half-cup of oil or thereabouts.
A. This is an old favorite of mine that I had forgotten about until I read your letter. I then made this recipe for the first time in years and my children loved it!
The very low-fat marinade is also going to reduce the amount of possible carcinogens such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (deposited on the surface of food when fat drips down into the flame) and HCAs (heterocyclic amines). HCAs have been shown to cause tumors in animals and are most often associated with cancers of the gastrointestinal tract and breast and they are formed when high heat is applied to a combination of animal amino acids.
If you choose marinades low in oil and lean meats you will be minimizing fat dripping onto the coals and causing high flames. Also, new studies suggest that marinating your meat or poultry at least 3 minutes before cooking may lower HCA formation by 94 to 96 percent.
You can grill or BBQ the chicken skewers instead of broiling them — either way works great.
Chicken Saté Skewers
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup lower-sodium soy sauce
- 1/8 cup dark molasses
- 1/8 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons minced or chopped garlic
- 1/2 tablespoon butter or margarine (choose margarine with no trans fats)
- Juice from 1/2 large lemon
Start soaking about 20 bamboo skewers in water. Cover one chicken breast with wax paper and pound with flat end of meat mallet to about 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with other 3 chicken breasts. Cut each breast into about 5 long strips.
Over medium heat, add soy sauce, molasses and brown sugar to small saucepan and stir together until the sugar dissolves (about 1-2 minutes). Turn off the heat.
Add the garlic, margarine and lemon juice and continue stirring until margarine has melted.
Place chicken strips in shallow dish and pour saté sauce over the top. Cover and let sit in refrigerator overnight or 6-8 hours.
Thread each strip of chicken onto one of the bamboo skewers and broil on a foil-lined cookie sheet, about 6 inches from the flame, until top is nicely browned (about 2 minutes). Flip skewers over and brown other side (about 2 minutes). Serve.
Makes 5 servings, 4 skewers each. Per serving: 159 calories, 22 grams protein, 10 grams carbohydrate, 3 grams fat (.8 g saturated fat, 1 gram monounsaturated fat, .8 gram polyunsaturated fat), 58 mg cholesterol, 0 g fiber, 264 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 18 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids 0.2 g. Omega-6 fatty acids 0.6 g. Weight Watchers points 3.
