4 Sep /17

Satay

Satay – Word of the day - EVS Translations
Satay – Word of the day – EVS Translations

It has yet to be determined what exactly draws people to meat grilled over wood or coals. Add in skewers for ease of eating and spices or a sauce, and you have got a guaranteed winner. Many countries have their own original versions, such as Japan’s yakitori, Turkey’s shish kebab, or China‘s chuanr, but no other country is as well-known for this type of dish as Indonesia is with the satay. Though it is popular globally, most Westerners tend to associate “satay” with the spicy peanut sauce, but there is much more to the word than just the sauce.

While the origins of the word are murky and disputed, the prevailing thought is that it originated from either the Indonesian sate or the Malay satai/sate, both of which are thought to come from the Tamil language. Satay, thought to be an interpretation by the street vendors of Java as a local adaptation of Indian kebabs, was initially popularised by Arab and Tamil Indian immigrants to the Dutch East Indies in the early 1800s.

Popular locally, the first mention of Satay in English didn’t occur until 1934, when Willis’s Singapore Guide (falsely) stated: “‘Satai’ I am given to understand was introduced into this Country by the Chinese, the word being spelt ‘Satae’, meaning three pieces of meat.” (This is likely due to Satay typically having 4 pieces of meat, and 4 being an inauspicious number to the Chinese.)

Aside from being a national dish that is served in homes and by street vendors as well as high-class restaurants, what makes satay, well, satay? Strictly speaking, satay is a meat (or even tofu) that is skewered on the midrib of a coconut palm frond or a bamboo skewer and cooked over burning wood or coals. However, outside of this basic format, the combination of meat, seasoning, and finishing sauce varies based on the region in Indonesia. Using the example of chicken satay (Sate Ayam), some variations include: Sate Kulit, a Sumatra satay using marinated chicken skin; Sate Madura, from the island of Madura and involving a black sauce and rice cakes; or even Sate Ponorogo, which gets its name from a town in East Java and, instead of the typical 4 small pieces, uses 1 larger piece of chicken cooked in a special earthenware grill.

Thankfully, it is easy to try many different varieties, or, if you are feeling adventurous, it is never too difficult to try making (or even inventing) your own satay.