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Satay

Satay (spelt sate in Indonesian) is made of cubed meat, skewered kebab-fashion, then grilled and eaten with a peanut sauce dip. Tracing its origins to the Arabs, the satay has adapted to the multi-cultural palates of Asians with various spicy sauces and different ways of marinating the meats.

Origins
Arabs were known to skewer their meat on swords before roasting and Middle Eastern nomads would barbecue their meat on metal skewers known as kebabs or sharwarma. The spice trade which brought Arab traders to Southeast Asia led to the spread of Arab culinary culture to the Indonesians and eventually to Malaysia and Singapore. Similarly, during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, kebabs or sharwarma were adopted by the locals and is today a popular dish amongst the Greeks and the Cypriots besides the Turks, the Egyptians and the Arabs. The dish spread beyond to Northern India with even Beijing residents savouring fiery flavoured kebabs today. The uniqueness of satay in Asia is that wooden skewers are used unlike metal in their Arab counterpart.

The satay sauce, made up of ground peanuts and other spices, was first introduced in the Philippines by the Spanish from South America. Used to marinate the pieces of meat, the remaining sauce is used as a dip after the meat of the satay is grilled.

Description
The meats used are beef, mutton, lamb, or chicken, and amongst non-Muslims pork. The small cuts of meat are marinated in various spices which also works to tenderise the meat. They are then skewered through wooden sticks. Satay sticks were originally dried, thin stems of the coconut leaf but today, factory-generated bamboo sticks are used. The satay is barbecued over a flaming charcoal fire, whilst constantly brushed with oil for a tantalising glaze, until well-browned. The stick of grilled meat is then served with a bowl of peanut dip and cuts of cucumber and onions. The small cuts of meat means up to 20 sticks can be eaten in one go and is often served as a complete meal accompanied with ketupat or steamed rice wrapped in woven leave packets.

Satay in Singapore
The satay man, a peddler cycling his delicacy with his portable charcoal grill, was a familiar sight to Singaporeans up to the late 70s. The Satay Club, that once stood at the edge of the park at the Esplanade, was a collection of stalls hawking solely satays in the evenings. Famous satay outlets include Stay Aneka located at Centrepoint and the Majid satay stall at Campbell Road (Jalan Dang Wangi). So popular are satay today that whole industries have grown around it. Companies like City Satay not only caters out to parties but literally prepares uncooked satays for hawkers, a tedious task which used to be the sole duty of the satay hawker. In 1995, the Hainanese Poh Kee Satay became the first company to franchise their satays using a specially-designed machine to skewer up to 30,000 sticks a day.

One of the recent innovations to the recipe of satay is the introduction of pork by Chinese hawkers just a decade ago. A variant a sauce was also created where pineapple puree topped the peanut mix. Shrimp satay is also a recent concoction where the prawns are coated in garlic, skewered and barbecued but are not served with the mandatory peanut sauce. New dishes have evolved, such as Satay Bee Hoon which has adopted the unmistakable satay ingredients.

Indonesian sate has a much sweeter flavour, a twirl of kechap manis or sweet sauce added to the peanut sauce. Other spices such as galangal and finely cut dashes of the limau purut leaf also heighten the flavour of the sate and its sauce.



Author
Suchitthra Vasu



References 
Burton, D. (1996). Savouring the East (pp. 42-43). London: Faber & Faber.
(Call no.: 641.595 BUR) 

Rogers, J. (1990). The encyclopedia of food and nutrition (p. 393). London: Merehurst.
(Call no.: R 641.03 ROG) 

Good food in Singapore (p. 80). (1988). Singapore: Far East Press.
(Call no.: RSING 642.50255957 GFS) 

From swords and skewers to restaurants dish (1997, March 9). The Straits Times, Life!, p. 6.

Satay seller first Singaporean hawker to franchise grilled meats (1995, January 16). The Straits Times, Life!, p. 3.


Further Readings
Mowe, R. (Ed.) (1999). Southeast Asian specialties: A culinary journey (p. 166). Konemann: Culinaria.
(Call no.: SING 641.5959 SOU) 

Yu, Y. G. (1976). Nyonya food, satay and padang curry cooking. Singapore: Tiger Press.
(Call no.: RCLOS 641.8653 YU) 

Subject
Ethnic Communities>>Food
Cookery, Singapore
Skewer cookery
Food
Cookery>>International and regional cooking>>Southeast Asian
Cookery>>Types of meals>>Side dishes



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