Sate padang (Padang-style satay)

Sate Padang is a specialty beef satay from West Sumatra served in aromatic curry-like thick sauce.

There are many different kinds of sate/satay from different regions in Indonesia alone. One of my favorites is Sate Padang, from, needless to say, Padang (West Sumatra). Sate Padang is typically sold as street food in push cart in Indonesia. I especially love the thick sauce of sate padang. It’s almost curry like I must say. According to wikipidia though, there are 3 different kinds of sate padang: Sate Pariangan (which I’ve never tasted before), Sate Padang Panjang (I’ve never tasted this too), and then Sate Padang (my favorite). They come from the same region but with different taste and color in the sauce. Honestly, I’ve only tasted Sate Padang, which they say is sort of the combination of both Sate Pariangan and Sate Padang Panjang.

My sister and I used to eat this every night. We were really the regular and the old man who sold sate padang with push cart would stop in front of our house sharp at 9 pm every night! This is not something you will typically see on the menu in restaurants, not in Indonesia and definitely not here in the U.S! It’s probably one of the most unknown sate outside of Indonesia as most people assume that sate is always served with peanut-based sauce.
This is adapted from a recipe that a friend gave me and this was my fourth attempts and we thought we were in heaven for a while when we had this yesterday! My kids absolutely love the sauce.

Sate Padang (West Sumatra Satay) About 20 skewers

Prep Time 25 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Total Time 1 hr 25 mins

Servings 25 skewers

5 from 4 votes

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 500 gr beef (brisket, flank, or sirloin tip steak)
• 500 gr ox tongue
• 1500 ml water
• 6 Kaffir Lime leaves tear the leaves at the edges to release the flavor
• 1 stalk lemongrass smashed with the back of cleaver to bruise to release the flavor
• 1 inch fresh galangal bruised
• 1 inch fresh ginger bruised
• 150 gr rice flour mix with 150 ml water
• Salt to taste
• 25 Bamboo skewers Soak in a water for 20-30 minutes so it won't burn when you grill your sate

Ground spices:

• 5-6 red ancho chili or you can use fresh long red chili
• 2 tsp roasted coriander seeds/ketumbar
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 5 garlic cloves peeled
• 5 shallots
• 2 inch turmeric root or use 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

 

Prepare the beef and tongue:

• Parboil the beef and tongue for about 5 minutes, discard the water and then scrape the whitish stuff off the tongue and cut the tongue and beef into about 2 x 2 x 3 cm pieces. Don't cut too small or they will fall apart during cooking

Cook the beef and tongue:

• Place the meat and tongue in a large pot and marinade with the ground spices for 30 minutes
• Pour in the water and add the kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, and ginger. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to let them cook until cooked through, about 30 minutes. Remove the meat and tongue from the broth. Discard all the spices and herbs. Strain the broth and save about 1000 ml of broth. Have a taste and season the broth with salt to your taste.

Grill the sate:

• Thread meat and tongue pieces onto the bamboo skewers, about 3-4 pieces of meat + tongue for each skewer. Get your grill ready and brush the sate with some oil on both sides and grill until they are slightly browned but not too long so the meat won't toughen and dried up too much or you can broil them on low in the oven until nicely charred, but not burned

Thicken the broth:

• Bring the broth back to boil. Stir the rice flour mixture again before pouring into the stock to thicken up the stock (this is an important step or you will end up with lumps). Continue to stir vigorously after that until it is thick and smooth. Immediately pour the sauce over the sate and rice cakes (if using). Sprinkle with fried shallots crisps. It is best to serve while it's piping hot. I served with some fried pork/beef skins to scoop up that delicious sauce

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I’m just happy to say that I’m able to introduce this delicious childhood street food that I’ve been craving so much to both of my kids and they absolutely gave it thumbs up !!