Satay or Sate

Sate Kajang Hj Samuri

Satay or sate is grilled or barbequed chicken, goat, mutton, beef or pork in bamboo skewers. It is usually served with a spicy peanut sauce dip or peanut gravy, slivers of onions and cucumbers and ketupat (rice cakes).

Sate (pronounced similarly to the English Satay) can be found throughout Malaysia, in restaurants, on the street - pasar malam (night market) and in food courts. Sate which is often associated with Muslims Malays of Malaysia is also available in non-halal Chinese eating establishments in Malaysia.

There are many well known sate outlets in Kajang, Selangor (Sate City of Malaysia) and one of them is Sate Kajang Haji Samuri. Sate Kajang Haji Samuri is now a chain restaurant and they offer chicken sate, beef sate, deer sate, rabbit sate, fish sate and many other variants. The outlet that we went to was at Taman Melati Utama.  

In Penang, the variation of the meat satay is satay lok-lok. Raw meat pieces, tofu pieces, century eggs, quail eggs, fish cake pieces, offal or vegetable pieces are skewered on bamboo sticks, cooked by dipping it in boiling water or stock. The satay is eaten with sweet sauce (thim cheong) with or without chili sauce and if it's eaten with satay sauce, it is called satay celup. Malacca is famous for satay celup (seamboat satay).

Lok Lok

Satay Celup

Both are Malaysian Chinese twists of the hotpot and the Malay satay, available either from street vendors or at certain restaurants. Most of them are non-halal. Customers use a common container containing boiling stock to personally cook their satay and sauces are either served in common containers or individually. There are no tables when you eat at street vendors and thus customers enjoy the food standing around the food cart.