Satay has developed into a lot of variations throughout Southeast Asia, reflecting local ingredients, culinary traditions, and cultural influences. Popular satay using Javanese seasonings and condiments like peanut sauce and kecap manis, it was adapted over time to suit the tastes and available ingredients of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and southern Thailand. Variants differ in their primary components, including chicken, beef, mutton, goat, seafood, and vegetables.
Indonesia
Many variants are named after their main ingredients, others after their city or region of origin. According to culinary experts from Gadjah Mada University, there are 252 variants of satay in Indonesia. Specific examples of satay include:
Chicken
Sate Ambal: A satay variant from Ambal, Kebumen, Central Java. This satay uses a native breed of poultry, ayam kampung. The sauce is not based on peanuts, but rather ground tempe, chilli and spices. The chicken meat is marinated for about two hours to make the meat tastier. This satay is accompanied with ketupat. sate asam/asem: chicken/beef/tripe/pork satay with three different sambals from Karangasem, Bali. The sambals are yellow sambal, red spicy sambal, and coconut sambal called sambal nyuh. Sate asin pedas: A salty and spicy chicken, goat and beef satay from Bandung in West Java. Sate ayam: Chicken satay, the most common and widely distributed type of satay in Indonesia. Sate ayam kampung: Using ayam kampung (free range chicken) meat. Sate ayam rebus: Boiled chicken satay. It has become a side dish of soto, mie jawa, or nasi goreng jawa. Sate Banjar: A variant of chicken satay popular in Southern Kalimantan, especially in the town of Banjarmasin. Sate Blater: A chicken satay dish from Blater Village, in Purbalingga. The chicken is seasoned with bumbu without sweet soy sauce before being grilled and skewered using coconut skewers. This satay is sold in the seller's home. Sate blendet: Chicken satay with yellow sauce from Balong District in Ponorogo. The sauce is made of shallots, garlic, candlenuts, coconut milk, and turmeric. : A variant originating in Blora, in Central Java. This variant is made of chicken (meat and skin) pieces that are smaller compared to the other variants. It is normally eaten with peanut sauce, rice, and a traditional soup made of coconut milk and herbs. Sate Blora is grilled in front of buyers as they are eating. The buyers tell the vendor to stop grilling when they are sated. Sate brutu: Fleshy part of chicken's tail satay. Sate kulit: Skin satay. Found in Sumatra, this is a crisp satay made from marinated chicken skin. (Madura satay): Originating on the island of Madura, near Java, it is a famous satay variant among Indonesians. Most often made from mutton or chicken, the recipe's main characteristic is the black sauce made from Indonesian sweet soy sauce/kecap manis mixed with palm sugar (called gula jawa or "Javanese sugar" in Indonesia), garlic, deep fried shallots, peanut paste, petis (a kind of shrimp paste), kemiri (candlenut), and salt. Chicken Madura satay is usually served in peanut sauce, while the mutton Madura satay is usually served in sweet soy sauce. Sate Madura uses thinner chunks of meat than other variants. It is eaten with rice or rice cakes wrapped in banana/coconut leaves (lontong or ketupat), they are usually sliced into smaller pieces before being served. Raw thinly sliced shallots and plain sambal are often served as condiments. In Pamekasan, there is a mini-sized Madura satay called because the meat is the size of a fly. (Ponorogo satay): A variant of satay originating in Ponorogo, a town in East Java. It is made from sliced marinated chicken meat, and served with a sauce made of peanuts and chili sauce and garnished with shredded shallots, sambal (chili paste) and lime juice. The meat is marinated in spices and sweet soy sauce, in a process called bacem and is served with rice or lontong (rice cake). The grill is made from terracotta earthenware with a hole in one side to allow ventilation for the coals. After three months of use, the earthenware grill disintegrates, and must be replaced. Sate serapah: Balinese chicken satay with sauce made of mixture of bumbu and serundeng. Sate srepeh: A variant of chicken satay from Rembang. The satay uses spicy orange sauce and eaten with rice and tofu. Sate taichan: A spicy chicken satay in hot sambal sauce, served with lontong, popular in Jakarta. It was said that the dish was an adaptation of skewered Chinese snack from Taiwan, which originally uses pork or rabbit meat, and served with soy sauce. The Indonesian version maintain the light Chinese-style seasoning, replaces pork with chicken, and adds spiciness with the addition of hot sambal. Another source mentioned that sate Taichan was devised from a Japanese man's specific request that his satay omits peanut sauce and sweet soy sauce, and only seasoned with a dash of salt and lime juice, and served with chili paste.
Beef
: A traditional food from Gorontalo. Diced meat cooked in a pot with a variety of spices, such as shallots, garlic, candlenuts, ginger, turmeric, coriander, and cumin. Sate bumbon: A spiced beef satay from Kendal, Central Java. It serves with peanut sauce, lontong, boiled bean sprouts, and young jackfruit sayur lodeh. Sate buntel: Lit: Wrapped satay, a speciality from Solo or Surakarta, Central Java. It is made from minced beef, goat, lamb and mutton (especially meats around ribs and belly area). The minced fatty meats are wrapped by thin fat or muscle membrane and wrapped around a bamboo skewer. The size of this satay is quite large, very similar to a Middle Eastern kebab. After being grilled on charcoal, the meat is separated from the skewer, cut into bite-size chunks, then served in sweet soy sauce and merica (pepper). Sate bulayak: Beef satay with spicy soupy sauce from Lombok. It is eaten with rice cake called bulayak. Sate cucuk manis: Beef satay from Palembang, South Sumatra. It served with some soups, one of them is kuah pindang. Sate gajih: Beef fat satay popular in Yogyakarta, especially in Beringharjo Market. The fat satay is seasoned with sweet soy sauce and considered as snack since it is commonly served without any rice or additional sauces. Sate garo: Unskewered beef dish cooked in a peanut sauce from North Sulawesi. Sate gebug: "hit" satay from Malang, East Java. The satay seller pounds the selected beef, then grills it over a fire lit over charcoal. Sate jando: A specialty dish from Bandung, this satay is made from cow's breast fat. Sate kenul: Cubed beef satay smeared with grated coconut and spices made of turmeric, ginger, cumin, garlic, pepper, salt and coriander. It is a specialty dish from Nganjuk. Sate klopo: Lit: Coconut Satay, the beef is wrapped in coconut processed spices and then grilled. It is delicacy from Surabaya. /komo: Beef satay from East Java. Diced beef is sautéed with bumbu before grilling. Sate kuah: Lit: Soupy Satay, beef satay served in creamy and spicy kuah soup akin to soto. Sate kuah can be found in Betawi cuisine of Jakarta and also in Pontianak, Western Kalimantan. The Jakarta version sate kuah soup base is akin to Betawi's soto tangkar, since sate kuah was a variant of soto tangkar created in 1960s. Thus usually the seller offers both sate kuah and soto tangkar. The serving method are either grilled beef satay are dipped into soto soup, or the satay meat are stripped from the skewers and put into the soto soup. Compared to soto meat soup, sate kuah has smoky aroma due to grilling process. The Pontianak version sate kuah is smeared with peanut sauce, doused with spiced broth, and sprinkled with spring onion and calamansi juice. Sate lembut: A rare satay recipe of the Betawi people. It is can be found in Jalan Kebon Kacang, Central Jakarta. The satay is made from minced beef mixed with shredded coconut and spices, wrapped around a flat bamboo skewer. Usually eaten with ketupat laksa betawi (Betawi style Laksa with ketupat glutinous compressed rice). Sate manis or sate asem manis: Also a speciality from the Betawi people. It is also can be found in Jalan Kebon Kacang, Central Jakarta. The satay is made from slices of has dalam (tenderloin) the finest part of beef, marinated with sour and sweet spices. Usually eaten with ketupat laksa betawi. Sate maranggi: Commonly found in Purwakarta and Cianjur, the cities in West Java, this satay is made from beef marinated in a special paste. The two most important elements of the paste are kecombrang (Nicolaia speciosa) flower buds and ketan (sweet rice) flour. Nicola buds bring a unique aroma and a liquorice-like taste. The satay is served in sweet soy sauce with acar pickles. It is served with ketan cake (jadah) or plain rice. Sate matang: A satay variant from Matang Geulumpang Dua, Bireun, Aceh. This satay is made from beef, usually served with peanut sauce and soto or soup separately. Sate rembiga: Beef satay from Lombok. The basic seasoning for the satay is chili. However, it is also given some additional spices, such as tamarind, brown sugar, onions, coriander, and candlenut. It is usually eaten with rice cake, plecing kangkung, and beef bone soup. Sate sapi: Beef satay, served in sweet soy sauce and peanut sauce. Specialty of Jepara, Salatiga, and Semarang Regency in Central Java. Sate sumsum: Bone marrow satay commonly found in Bogor, West Java. Sate susu: Literally it means "milky satay", however it contains no milk, the term susu is actually refer to cow's breast or udder. This dish that can be found in Java and Bali, is made from grilled spicy beef udder, served with hot chilli sauce. Sate tambulinas: Spiced beef satay from Sulawesi. Tambulinas satay do not use peanut sauce or soy sauce, it is marinated in spice mixture containing ground chilli pepper, ginger, lemongrass, shallot and garlic, and served with juice of kaffir lime.
Other red meats
Sate kambing: Goat satay, a variant of satay popular in Java, made with goat, lamb or mutton meat. Different from other satays, sate kambing (lamb satay) is not usually pre-seasoned or pre-cooked. Raw lamb, mutton, and goat is skewered and grilled directly on the charcoal. It is then served with sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), sliced shallots, and cut-up tomatoes. Since the meat is not pre-cooked, it is important to use young lamb. The best vendors use lamb under three to five months old. Lamb from goat is also more popular than lamb from sheep due to milder flavor. : Water buffalo satay, a variant of satay popular in Kudus, where most Muslim believed that it is forbidden to eat beef to respect the Hindus. This satay is made with water buffalo meat. The meat is cooked first with palm sugar, coriander, cumin, and other seasoning until very tender. Some vendor choose to even grind the meat first to make it really tender. It is then grilled on charcoal, and served with sauce made with coconut milk, palm sugar, and other seasoning. Traditionally, satay kerbau is served on a plate covered with teak wood leaves. Sate klatak/klathak: Goat satay with coconut milk soup from Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta. Uniquely, the meat is skewered with bicycle tire spokes. Sate kronyos: Breast of goat satay can be found in Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta. Sate loso: Water buffalo meat or sometimes replaced with beef satay, served in spicy chili peanut sauce. Specialty of Pemalang, Central Java. Sate rusa: Deer satay, a delicacy from Merauke, Papua. In East Kalimantan, a satay dish made of venison called sate payau.