Michigan Cottage Cook: DUTCH INDONESIAN SATEH/SATE WITH PEANUT SAUCE

The Dutch and the Sea are intertwined. My Dad always said that we as a family needed to live by water as we had the North Sea in our veins. As a maritime nation, the Dutch were early traders plying the sea for trade goods. When Europe was colonizing the rest of the world, the Dutch had Colonies in both the East and West Indies. They were in Indonesia from the early 1600’s to 1945. Indonesian food became part of the Dutch diet as well as their traditional northern European food. Open a Caribbean cookbook and you will find many recipes that have definite Dutch influence or Dutch ingredients like Gouda cheese.

Sateh/Indonesian Sate with Peanut Sauce is one of the foods served along with pea soup, oile bollen, and herring at the Annual Dutch Fest--Landdag held in Hudsonville, Michigan in September. Check the D.I.S. Link for the date for 2010. The ingredients such as Sambal Oelek and Ketjap Manis can be found at the Dutch Stores listed on the Food and Dutch Links and in some grocery stores. I have also given substitutes for the ingredients.

Peanut Sauce is a flavorful dipping sauce that can also be used in cold noodle salads. When I worked in the food industry a co-worker who was from the Netherlands and whose mother was Indonesian showed us how to make the simplest peanut sauce. He said to just mix peanut butter with Sambek Oelek and add hot water to thin the sauce to your choice of consistency. To 3 tablespoons of peanut butter, I added about 1 tablespoon or more if you want it hotter. Add hot water and stir.

Quick Peanut Sauce.

Sambal Oelek is an Indonesian chile sauce with no added flavors added like garlic or spices. It adds hot without changing the flavor of a dish. A swirl of Sambal Oelek is lovely in a bowl of hummus. Crushed red pepper can be used as a substitute.
Ketjap Manis is Indonesian sweet soy sauce. It is a forerunner of ketchup. It is the only soy sauce developed outside the Asian continent. For a substitute use equal parts soy sauce and brown sugar or molasses. Simmer the two until blended. Maggi Seasoning Sauce can also be a substitute; however, it is not as sweet.

Sambal Oelek and Ketjap Manis with substitutions.

I have combined many recipes I found for Peanut Sauce and Marinades for Sateh/Sate and these are the recipes that I developed. I am very pleased with them as we found them delicious! It is always fun when a recipe hits the mark on the first try.

Ingredients and substitutions for Peanut Sauce.

PEANUT SAUCE
This peanut sauce has a more complex flavor than the Sambal Oelek and peanut butter sauce.

4 T peanut butter
8 T hot water
2 t or 1 T Sambal Oelek or to taste (1/2 t or more crushed red pepper is good substitute)
1 T Ketap Manis or 1 T soy sauce plus 1 t molasses or brown sugar
1 t to 1 T fresh ginger, grated (I used a T)
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of half a lemon

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan; gently simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Ingredients for Marinade and substitutions.

MARINADE FOR SATEH OR SATE

2 T oil
4 T Ketjap Manis
Large dash ground coriander
Zest from a lime
2 T fresh ginger, grated

Combine ingredients together.

Pork Sirloin.

MEAT
In Indonesia chicken or lamb/mutton would be used because the majority of the nation is Muslim. Immigrants from China started making Sate from pork. The marinade or peanut sauce is equally good with all three of these meats. Most recipes that call for pork sate to be made with the tenderloin cut of meat. Tenderloin is expense and I am Dutch. I found boneless pork sirloin steaks for a fraction of the price and they worked out very well for sate as they were tender and flavorful.

SATEH/SATE
Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. Soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes so they won’t burn or use metal skewers. Thread the meat onto the skewers. Put skewers in a pan big enough to hold them and pour Marinade for Sateh/Sate over them. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours. Grill or broil. Tom grilled ours over a medium-hot fire for 15 to 20 minutes depending on heat of your fire. He flipped them every 5 minutes to brown each side. When meat is 160°, remove skewers to serving platter. Garnish with chopped, roasted, unsalted peanuts and coarsely chopped fresh basil or cilantro. I prefer the basil. Serve with Peanut Sauce for dipping.