Pork Satay

沙爹

Satay is one of our favourite hawker dishes but they don't come cheap nowadays (1 stick 90cents@ Nov 2024). A lot of preparation is required to make the rempah (spice paste) but the end result is truly special and worth the effort. 

Below recipe is after a few trial and error of making our own satay and developing the taste we enjoy. The rempah is the key to great tasting satay. We prepared our own rempah which comprises 20% spices and 10% sugar over the weight of meat. 

Ingredients

1 kg of pork (preferred cut:  不见天 or 边肉)

5g salt 

Rempah/Spice paste ingredients (20% of weight of pork):

60g lemon grass (around 4  stalks, tender part only, slice thinly)

60g galangal / blue ginger (peeled and sliced thinly)

60g shallots (peeled)

20g fresh tumeric (peeled and sliced thinly)

100g sugar (10% of weight of pork)

Method

1. Slice pork into 3cm x 2cm x 1cm (thick) pieces.

2. Marinate the pork with salt for at least 3 hours.

3. Make rempah for meat. Put all ingredients into a stone mortar and pound until they break down. You can transfer to a blender and blend until you get a smooth paste. Add the rempah to the pork. Mix well and marinate for at least 24 hours.

4. Add sugar to the pork, mix well and chill in fridge for 24 hours.

5. On the day of grilling the satay, soak the bamboo skewers in water for at least half an hour. Skewer the meat.

6. Prepare the charcoal stove. Lightly brush the skewers with oil before grilling. Grill until the satay meat turns golden brown and slightly charred. Serve with cucumbers and big onions.