User:Jessicanastasia/Satay

Satay, or sate in Indonesian and Malay spelling, is a Southeast Asian dish of seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. It is from Indonesia and popular in Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Brunei. It also recognized and popular along Suriname and Netherlands. Satay may consist of diced or sliced chicken, goat, mutton, beef, pork, fish, other meats, or tofu; the more authentic version uses skewers from the midrib of the coconut palm frond, although bamboo skewers are often used. These are grilled or barbecued over a wood or charcoal fire, then served with various spicy seasonings. Satay can be served in various sauces, however most often they are served in a combination of soy and peanut sauce. Hence, peanut sauce is often called satay sauce.

Origin and history
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the English word "satay" is derived from the Malay word satai, also saté or sate in Indonesian, ultimately originating from Tamil catai, a regional variant of tacai meaning "flesh". The usage in English was first attested in 1917 with reference to a "satai" seller in Singapore, later a mention of saté in Denpasar, Bali appeared in 1937, with a description of Malays cooking satay appearing in 1955. Satay may have been developed by Javanese street vendors as an adaptation of Indian kebabs. At the time number of immigrants work in Java increasing, Satay is made and become famous. Arab is the one that influenced a lot with the original satay made. The differences between kebabs and Satay itself is in the meat. They claimed to be similar but satay can make from various meat. The introduction of satay, and other now-iconic dishes such as tongseng and gulai kambing based on meats such as goat and lamb, coincided with an influx of Indian and Arab traders and immigrants starting in the 18th century. No one doubts that it was in Indonesia that the fragrant marinade skewered meat, dipping sauces and sambals reached their apogee.

Preparation
Meat commonly used includes chicken, lamb, goat, mutton, beef, venison, and rabbit; seafood such as fish, shrimp, and squid; or offal such as liver, intestine, and tripe. Some have also used more exotic varieties of meat, such as turtle, crocodile, horse, lizard, and snake meat. Most people usually use chicken for satay but there's a lot of street food that sells with other meat. For example, satay with goat and beef. The way for cooking satay is by cutting the meat into small cubes shape, about thumb-size. However, such recipes as Ponorogo use chicken fillet cut into an elongated finger-like shape, thus one skewer holds only one piece.

Satay may be served with a spicy peanut sauce dip, or peanut gravy, served with slices of lontong or ketupat (rice cakes), garnished with a sprinkle of bawang goreng (crisp fried shallot), and accompanied by acar (pickles) consisting of slivers of onions, carrots, and cucumbers in vinegar, salt, and sugar solution. Mutton satay is usually served with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) instead of peanut sauce. Pork satay can be served in a pineapple-based satay sauce or cucumber relish. An Indonesian version uses a soy sauce-based dip. Satays usually presented as it is, a bunch of skewered meats richly coated with peanut sauces. All these sauce come with a cold vegetable, which is called "acar timun." It's similar to pickles here and called, "ajad" in Thailand. Today, however, fine dinings and fancy restaurants tried to improve the food presentation aspect of satays to become more visually appealing.

Thailand
There is a lot of satay in Thailand. For example, we can found it in Southern Thailand. It has a satay called "hoi malaeng puu" made with mussels in the top and satay udang (ginger paste and shrimp). It's also popular in Singapore. Nonetheless, as Thai satay has evolved through the use of different marinades, sauces, and meats from the original version of the dish, it can be argued that the Thai and Indonesian satays are two different dishes that only share the same name and origin. Due to the global popularity of Thai cuisine and the lower numbers of Indonesian restaurants outside of Indonesia, diners outside the region, particularly those in the West, are more likely to be referring to the Thai version rather than the original Indonesian version when referencing the dish. A Thai popular street food, khao niao mu ping, grilled pork on a skewer, is believed to be influenced by satay.