Indonesian (BBQ) Satay with Peanut Sauce

We are starting a new column of recipes from readers. Our newsletter reader and IEC volunteer, Indah Susanti, will share her favorite recipe from her home country, Indonesia. 

“Indonesian satay is a popular menu for lunch and dinner time, we usually eat the satay together with white rice. We have tens variety of satays, but this time I introduce the satay recipe from Java Island. The popular meat for this type of satay is chicken with its original name is ‘Sate Ayam’ (Chicken Satay).”

Essential Ingredients

• 600 gram of meat of your choice (boneless Chicken/Beef/Lamb/Pork/Plant-based meat), slices the meat into small-medium size cube pieces
• Bamboo skewers, soak them in water before skewering the meat 

Marinade Ingredients

•  ¾ large Shallot, finely chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoon ginger, chopped
• 1 tablespoon coriander, chopped
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon dark sweet soy sauce (at Asian shop called as Ketjap/Kecap Manis)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Little bit of salt and water
• ¼ cup of unsweetened coconut milk
• If you like to have it spicy, add chili paste or chopped “bird's eye chili

Peanut Sauce Ingredients

• 5 cups roasted, unsalted peanuts
• ¼ shallot
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• water
• sweet soy sauce (at Asian shop, it is called as Ketjap/Kecap Manis)
• vegetable oil
• salt
• If you like to have it spicy, add chili paste or chopped “bird's eye chili”

Barbecue Time!

1.    Mix all marinade ingredients in a plastic bag or a bowl. Then add the meat cube slices, mix them well with the sauce and put them in the fridge for 2 to 4 hours.

2.    After marinade, put the meat cube slices into the bamboo skewers. Give space in between the meat.

3.    Barbecue the meat in the skewers accordingly. Turn the meat frequently and basting the leftover marinade sauce into the meat each time you turn the skewers.

Making the Peanut Sauce

1.  Prepare the oil, fry lightly the chopped garlic, shallot and peanuts on medium heat (add the chili if you like)

2.  As the peanuts look brown (not too dark), then put the fried peanuts, garlic, shallot in a blender and mix them. Add a little bit of water and salt to the mixture then until it turns into a fine paste.

3.  Move the paste from the blender and cook the paste over low heat, mix it together with sweet soya. If the sauce is a bit too thick, please add a little bit of water.

4.  After the sauce is warm, then serve together with the meat in the skewers.

Tips

• If you can’t find sweet soy sauce (Ketjap/Kecap Manis), use Japanese soy sauce and mix it with a little bit of sugar.
• Best with chicken meat.
• Three top keys to get delicious crunchy and tender satay: the marinade, how to grill the satay and its peanut sauce dressing.
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