[Sca-cooks] 'Tay!, Sah-tay!

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

I remember the call of the sate (final e is pronounced) vendor has he
pushed his cart into our gang (sort of an alley, but not really) - he
came just before dinner... He had an elaborate wooden cart with glass
cases for the various stuff he used - of course, no refrigeration in
Jakarta's heat. He had a can of hot charcoal under his grill that
filled about half the cart...

In Indonesia you can make sate out of almost anything - chicken, beef
(well, ox, actually, although there are really beautiful cattle on
Madura and in Bali), pork - in Bali where they are not Muslim or from
Chinese restaurants, goat, tofu (called tahu in Indonesia), tempeh
(sadly American tempeh is not really tasty, unlike the wonderful
stuff i got in the market in Indonesia), ground meat of various
sorts...

Sate was usually eaten with a fresh cucumber "pickle" - slender
cucumbers (not like the huge honkers we have, so not as bitter, or as
watery, or as seedy) sliced into rounds and soaked in mixture of
white vinegar, water, white sugar, and generally some killer cabe
rawit (chah-bay rah-weet) - aka birds eye chilis, tiny green chiles
that pack a wallop.

Generally there was kecap manis ("c" is pronounced as "ch" -
keh-chahp mah-nees) - Indonesian sweet soy sauce - for dipping the
meat. The peanut sauce was only one of many kinds of sate.

Quite a few recipes call for kemiri. The closest substitute is
macadamia nuts, unless you can find actual kemiri. I believe they
were also called candle nuts, because they were so oily. They look a
lot like macadamia, but they are somewhat bitter and are never "eaten
out of hand" as one eats macadamia nuts because of their unpleasant
taste when eaten that way. There are often used to balance the
flavors and add a bit of substance to the spice blend. After all, one
doesn't eat spoonsful of spices - they are used to season other food.
So with kemiri.

There were no "official" measuring cups or spoons when i lived there.
A tea spoon (sendok teh) was the spoon you stirred you tea, a cup was
the cup you drank hot tea in, an eating spoon (sendok makan) is the
size of a soup spoon, a glass is around the size of a juice glass
(varying from 6 to 8 oz).

I brought back 16 booklets, semua dalam bahasa Indonesia, 10 have a
wide variety of recipes; one book is on "traditional Indonesian
beverages"; one on "various colors of rice" - sort of poetic
language, but they do have white rice, red rice, and black rice - and
none of them are "forbidden" despite the advertising ploys of vendors
selling red and black rice at grossly inflated prices; and 4 books on
cooking sweets and snacks.

I have intentionally left the translations rough - but if this is
difficult for anyone, let me know and i will "smooth" them out for
you. Also, my Bahasa Indonesia is a tad rusty, but it's still easier
for me than Medieval German.

I also have quite a few cookbooks in English, several written by
actual Indonesians :-) If the actual Indonesian recipes below are too
difficult or strange (strange? on this list?), i can post some which
have been written for Westerners.

Below are recipes for
Sate Babi - Pork Sate (from non-Muslim Bali)
Sate Manis - Sweet Sate
Sate Bumbu Kacang - Peanut Seasoning Sate
Sate Sumatra - Sate from Sumatra
Sate Kambing - Goat Sate
Sate Ayam - Chicken Sate (2 different ones)
Sate Tahu - Tofu Sate
Sate Padang - Padang style Sate
Sate Udang - Shrimp Sate (2 very different ones)
Sate Tempe - Tempeh Sate
Sate Pentul - Ground Beef Sate

There are other recipes. If what i've got here doesn't cover what you
want, let me know. I left out the fish sate recipes, since i'm not
sure what the equivalents are here in the States. If i search the
'Net i might find some comparisons.

Anahita

----- Begin Translations of Indonesian Sate Recipes -----

From:
Resep Masakan Nusantara
supposedly by Nyonya Puspa

"Nyonya" kind of means "Mrs.", although there are times and places it
indicates that the woman is not only married, but also Chinese...

This book has *14* recipes for sate. Here are six of them...

1. Sate Babi - Pork Sate (Bali)

1/4 kilo pork, cut up very small and skewered

Bumbu (Seasonings):
7 peppercorns
7 coriander seeds
7 cloves garlic
salt
3 ripe red chilis
kecap manis
and charcoal

All spices ground fine then given kecap, and a little oil. Sate grill
until done then pour on the seasonings while beating it with the ulek
(that's the tool used for grinding spices - it's sort of a pestle -
sometimes made of wood, sometimes made of volcanic stone that is
finer than the stuff i see from Mexico) so that seasonings sink in,
roast, turn, give the meat seasoning again, this as long until the
sate is really done. Remove from fire and served very hot.

-----
2. Sate Manis - Sweet Sate

1/2 kilo beef
sate skewers

Bumbu (Seasonings):
10 shallots [bawang merah]
10 kemiri nuts
4 cloves garlic [bawang putih]
palm sugar [gula Jawa]
salt [garam]
frying oil [minyak goreng]
kecap manis
young galangal

All the seasonings ground fine, given tamarind water about 1/2 cup (a
cup you drink tea out of), kecap and salt. Marinate the meat which
has been sliced, remove when done, stick on skewers, then leave as
long as 1 hour, then grill. When already cooked remove from the fire
and serve.

-----
3. Sate Bumbu Kacang - Peanut Seasoning Sate

1 kilo goat meat
100 grams goat gajih
4 fresh papaya leaves to wrap the meat so that the meat becomes tender

Bumbu (Seasonings):
100 grams raw peanuts
2 cloves garlic
8 pods red chili
1 eating spoon vinegar
kencur (a rhizome in the ginger family that is closely related to
galangal, but tastes nothing like it or ginger - some Thai stores
sell it, and some shops have dried powder)
7 shallots (fried) [what it doesn't tell you is that the shallots are
sliced finely then fried until golden and crispy]
salty soy sauce
little chilies [these are usually green]
frying oil

Peanuts roasted (that usually in a little oil) then ground fine. Red
chili, seeds removed, kencur, and garlic ground fine moistened with
oil.
Chili sliced on the plate [here it is the little chilis] then given
peanut seasoning and soy sauce, stir until smooth, sprinkle with
fried shallots, and sate which has been roasted is put on the
aforementioned.

-----
4. Sate Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the largest islands in the world - Indonesia also
includes parts of two of the other islands that are among the largest
- Kalimantan (known to Westerners as Borneo) and Irian Jaya (known to
Westerners as New Guinea).

1 kilo beef (chicken, liver)

Bumbu (Seasonings):
6 shallots
1 tea spoon cumin seed (jintan putih)
15 pods red chilis
3 pieces fennel seed (jintan manis)
1 slice fresh galangal
4 cloves garlic
6 kemiri nuts
2 jeruk purut leaves [you can substitute "kaffir lime" leaves from a
Thai market or if you have a citrus tree in your yard...]
1 eating spoon coriander seeds
salt
turmeric leaves [yes, the leaves from the plant]
ginger [always fresh]

Meat is cut up less big than usual meat, all seasonings ground fine,
except citrus leaves and turmeric leaves, put in a pan which contains
coconut milk, meat in then entered, citrus leaves, turmeric leaves,
salt cooked until tender and moist, then skewered, grilled with fire
that is calm

[NOTE: Coconut milk is NEVER the liquid inside a coconut - that is
called coconut *water* - coconut milk is made rather like almond
milk, from the white flesh on the inside of a mature coconut. Dried
*unsweetened* coconut works - so does the Indian paste concentrate
and the canned Thai]

-----
5. Sate Kambing - Goat Sate

[ NOTE: In reality, "kambing" means both goat and sheep, but given
the climate, there aren't too many sheep - i never say any, although
up the in the mountains in Java it's much cooler and maybe there are
some. So, the recipes that call for kambing want goat. However, you
can substitute lamb. I don't like the taste of lamb and the taste of
goat is like lamb multiplied by 100]

1/4 kilo goat meat which is good

Bumbu (Seasonings):
10 pods red chili
sugar
2 leaves jeruk purut [see note in previous recipe]
1 spoon vinegar
2 eating spoons soy sauce [type unspecified]
salt

Goat meat cut up very very small, stick on skewers, then roasted.
When already done, served with soy sauce seasonings which is made by
slices of chili, salt, soy sauce, citrus leaves [NOTE: these are
usually cut in fine slices like match sticks], squirt in a little
vinegar, and given onion family member [type unspecified - could be
garlic, could be shallot] which has been sliced very very thin.

-----
6. Sate Ayam - Chicken Sate

1 chicken which is fat and young

3 shallots
3 cloves garlic
3 pods red chili
10 pods little chili
5 kemiri nuts
5 eating spoons peanuts (fried)
kecap manis - Indonesian sweet soy sauce
palm sugar
salt
jeruk nipis [This is a citrus fruit that is the size of a tangerine,
although more spherical, with skin the color of a standard American
lime, and meat the color of a lemon, and a flavor that sort of
combines all three...]

Chicken meat cut up in small rectangular pieces. One skewer sate
consists of 5 pieces, through the middle of the meat.

Garlic ground fine, 4 spoons soy sauce, 2 spoons oil chicken (fried)
[this may imply that the meat on the skewers and the spices are fried
in the oil], 4 spoons water, stirred then cooked. Then, roast
seasoned chicken really well.

Time to serve with seasonings that is, red chili throw out the seeds,
sliced, ground fine. Seasonings: kemiri, fried peanuts, shallots,
sugar, blend and moisten with enough water. As soon as thick, remove,
add red chili which has already been ground fine, stir then heat
again. When time to eat the sate, seasonings mixed with sweet soy
sauce, and citrus juice. If not hot (pedas) enough, may add to the
chili.

-----

And there are eight more recipes...

---------------------

Resep Masakan Lezat
Tasty Cooking Recipes
no author

This book has 10 sate recipes. Here are two:
-----

Sate Ayam - Chicken Sate

fat chicken, one
shallots, 5
shrimp paste, a little
rawit chilis, 7
jeruk purut leaves, 4
peanuts, about 1 ounce
salt, enough

Seasonings ground smooth together with peanuts which are already
fried, next saute [NOTE: saute the seasonings until soft and
fragrant], and add soy sauce. Leave until cooked, then remove [from
heat].

Chicken cleaned, next take meat cut as big as about half a finger
joint, then skewered with sate skewers, then grilled half cooked. As
soom as that, them put in stuff that was sauteed before and cook more
until done. The grilling is over low fire, while turning [skewers of
meat] back and forth so that evenly cooked and not raw.

-----
Sate Pentul - "Meatball" Sate

Beef, about 1/2 kilo
Shallots, 4
Shrimp paste, 1 tea spoon
Sugar, 1 tea spoon [this is usually granulated white sugar (gula
putih), but brown sugar (gula merah), or palm sugar are possible]
Lemongrass, 1 stalk
Coriander seeds, 1 tea spoon
Tamarind, 1 thumb worth
Turmeric, 1 joint
Coconut milk, about 1/2 cup
Mature coconut, 1/4
Red chili, 3 fruits
Salt, enough
Duck egg, 1 (a large chicken egg will work)

First the meat is cleaned, then chopped. Other seasonings are ground.
Seasonings, take 1/4, mix with coconut milk. Seasonings cooked, then
cooled. While this is going on, mix chopped meat with grated coconut
[ah, it didn't mention grating the mature coconut :-)], then right
away mix with egg.

This "dough" made into balls the size of a small egg, then skewered
with sate skewers, then grilled on a charcoal fire which is rather
small. When grilled, sprinkle with spices that were mixed with
coconut milk, then turn back and forth, basting with spices again,
until done then remove.
[in other words, keep cooking while basting with spices and turning
the skewers over]

---------------------

From:
Resep Masakan Daerah - Regional Cooking Recipes
(all the vowels are pronounced separately - that is "daerah" has
three syllables - and all "h" are pronounced. Some words are spelled
the same except for an "h" and it makes all the difference between
two vastly different words)
by Nyonya Tuty Latief
(described as a teacher at a high school in Surabaya, a city in East Java)

Sate Padang
(the word "Padang" refers to the Minangkebau people. They are
matrilineal and Muslim. This is no great liberation. The women are
still stuck at home while the men travel as traders or in other
businesses to make money). Padang restaurants are popular - they are
known for their good, and generally rather spicy food.

Special tools: Meat serving plate - sate skewers

Materials: 1 kilo of organ meat, which consists of intestines,
giblets, jantan, babat, dan hati,

Bumbu (Seasonings):
1 eating spoon coriander seeds
1/4 tea spoon cumin
4 eating spoons shallots
1 tea spoon garlic
1 joint of galangal
1 joint of ginger
1 joint of turmeric (yes, fresh turmeric - very different from dried
- sold at quite a few Asian and Southeast Asian markets)
10 to 12 pods red chilis
1 turmeric leaf
1 stalk lemon grass
more or less 1 eating spoon salt

1. Finely grind seasonings, except for turmeric leaf and lemon grass.
2. Boil (simmer) innards with 3/4 of ground seasonings plus turmeric
leaf plus lemon grass until tender.
3. Cut up until measure more or less 2 centimeters, mix with
remaining seasonings.
4. Skewer innards alternating, on skewers, then grill with charcoal
fire which is small [i think this means the fire is now "just" hot
coals, not flaming] until tender, greasing with fat/butter.
5. Mix water from boiling meat with rice flour which has already been
mixed with a little water.
Flavor hot [there's are different words in Bahasa Indonesia for
temperature hot ("panas) and chili hot ("pedas") - which we had such
a word in English...], color yellowish red.
6. Serve sate hot (panas) on a meat serving plate with
ketupat/lontong [special ways of cooking rice in leaf packages so
they are rectangular bundles (ketupat) or tubes (lontong)], sprinkle
with broth with is hot (panas).

---------------------

From:
Masakan Indonesia Dari Sabang Sampai Merauke
Indonesian Food from Sabang to Merauke
(Sabang and Merauke are towns about as far apart as you can get in
the Indonesian archipelago - i think Sabang is on Sumatra and Merauke
is on Timor)
No author

In the section on recipes from East Java and Madura:
Sate Udang - Shrimp Sate

big shrimp, 1/4 kilo
peanuts, 1/2 ounce

Bumbu (Seasonings):
red chili, 2 fruits
cabe rawit (tiny really pedas green chilis), 5 fruits
kemiri, 4 nuts
garlic, 4 cloves
jeruk nipis, 1/2 fruit (see note above about jeruk nipis, a
particular citrus fruit)
soy sauce, 3 eating spoons
salt, 1 eating spoon

Shrimp shelled, washed until clean, dibelah-belah, then stirred in
soy sauce, one eating spoon. Then skewered with sate skewers, such
that 3 or 4 pieces each skewer. Roasted on a ?bara?, turning until
cooked enough. Fry kemiri, boil peanuts. Seasonings finely ground,
pour in soy sauce and citrus juice. Serve on a platter sprinkled with
seasonings.

---------------------

From:
Masakan2 Indonesia
Indonesian Foods
[to indicate a plural, in Indonesian you double a word - a short way
to do this is to write the word with a superscript 2, in this case,
Masakan "squared", to indicate "Masakan-masakan"]

by Eleonora (no doubt a pseudonym)

This book has "only" 6 sate recipes. Here's one...

Sate Udang - Shrimp Sate

Materials:
Shrimp
Shallots
Kemiri
Tamarind
Red Chilis
Salt
Turmeric
Granulated sugar
Coconut milk [see note above]
Galangal
Shrimp paste
Coconut oil

Preparation:
Shrimp are peeled of their skin, then skewered as sate.

Red chili, remove the insides first, then grind with the other
seasonings except galangal (this is chopped only).

Cooking:
Fry seasonings first in coconut oil.
Then when golden, add coconut, sugar, and tamarind.
Cook until it boils, then enter the shrimp.
Remove when sauce is thick.

------------------------------------------

From
Resep Masakan Sayuranis: Masakan tanpa daging
Vegetable Cooking Recipes: Cooking without meat
also supposedly by Nyonya Puspa

Sate Tahu - Tofu Sate

Bahan (materials):
5 blocks of yellow tofu (their blocks are much smaller than ours -
i'd say use 12 oz up to 1 lb.)
sate skewers

Bumbu (Seasonings):
fried peanuts
3 shallots sliced then fried
2 cloves garlic fried
salt
MSG
1 tea spoon salty soy sauce (kecap asin)
1 eating spoon Indonesian sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
mentega (usually margarine, but i can't bear the stuff, so i'd use butter)
chilis

Tofu cut up small, then skewered, while rubbing with a little butter.
Then grilled until done. All seasonings ground until fine, then given
a little water, MSG, enough soy sauces sweet and salty. Served while
still hot.

---------------------

From:
Pandai Masak - Clever Cook (the verb), volume 2 (i never found volume
1, books don't stay in print in Indonesia)
supposedly by Nyonya Rumah ("rumah" means "house", so the name means
"Lady of the House", not a real name)

There are six sate recipes in this book.

-----
Sate Tempe - Tempeh Sate

Tempeh is made from cooked soybeans (in Indonesia they are tiny and
golden and have a wonderful nutty flavor) which are laid on banana
leaves, smeared with the appropriate mold spores, then wrapped
snuggly and left for a few days. It forms a cohesive block. The beans
are individually visible, but you cut it in slices and then cook it
in various ways. American tempeh is available in health/natural food
stores - and in Berkeley many "regular" groceries.

1 block tempeh
2 red chilis
3 eating spoons fried peanuts
2 tea spoons coriander seeds
2 cloves garlic
2 shallots
1 slice shrimp paste
1 slice galangal
salt
1 slice palm sugar
2 eating spoons soy sauce
3 leaves of jeruk purut (see note above)
2 cups coconut milk
coconut oil
[juice from juruk nipis]

Tempeh cut up into cubes, then stick on skewers, each skewer 5
pieces. Seasonings, except citrus leaves and galangal, ground finely,
then saute in a little coconut oil, mix in coconut milk, then put in
galangal, citrus leaves (whole), and the tempeh. Simmer until tempeh
is almost done. Remove tempeh from sauce, then keep simmering until
sauce is thick and oily [NOTE: oil will form a thin layer on the
top].  Put tempeh on banana leaves which are rather thick (about 3-4
leaves), then grill on a charcoal fire which is little [the banana
leaves are on the grill and the tempeh is on the leaves, perhaps like
cooking on foil...]. Remove, put on plate, sprinkle with seasonings.
The seasonings which are already thick have already been sprinkled
with soy sauce, squeeze of citrus juice, stir and stir until well
blended for the sate.

----- End Translations of Indonesian Sate Recipes -----