Authentic Sate Ayam or Indonesian Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
This post may contain affiliate links.Sate Ayam, or chicken satay in Indonesia, is a beloved dish enjoyed by many. It is a perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors, paired with juicy chicken. The dish is traditionally served with a rich peanut sauce, completing the experience.
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Sate Ayam / Chicken Satay
Sate Ayam, or Indonesian chicken satay, is a popular dish consisting of marinated chicken skewered on bamboo sticks and grilled until slightly charred. The chicken is tender, flavorful, and often served with a rich, sweet-savory peanut sauce, along with rice cakes or steamed rice. This iconic street food is a staple in Indonesian cuisine, known for its smoky, slightly charred exterior and juicy interior.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
Recipe Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Chicken – Choose chicken thigh because the meat will be more juicy. It has more fat content than the breast part.
Garlic, shallots, galangal – Try to get the fresh ones if possible. If you don’t have the fresh galangal, you can get the powdered form.
Coriander seeds – Ground coriander or the fresh coriander seeds are fine to use.
Sweet soy sauce – Sweet soy sauce or kecap manis comes from Indonesia. The taste is unique with a nice blend of sweet and savoury. A lot of Indonesian dishes use sweet soy sauce.
Substitutions & Variations
If you are allergic to peanuts, you may change it to cashew nuts or just omit it. Use sweet soy sauce on the chicken satay instead.
Other meat like beef, or pork can also be used in this recipe. You might want to check Sate Maranggi recipe if you like beef or Taichan Chicken satay without peanut sauce.
How to Make
- Cut the chicken fillet in 1×1 cm dice size. Set aside. Grind garlic, shallots, coriander seeds, galangal and 300 ml water in a food processor (image 1)
- Pour in a bowl with the chicken fillet (image 2). Add sweet soy sauce, lime, salt, mushroom powder, pepper. Add the seasoning and spice in the diced chicken fillet. Mix well.
- Cling wrap and put in the fridge for at least one hour or overnight (image 3).
- The next day, take out the marinated chicken. Arrange the diced chicken in a skewer one by one (image 4, 5). One skewer can take 3-5 pcs depending on the size of the diced chicken.
- Prepare the grill pan on a stove. Spray some cooking oil on the pan. Put the satay on the grill (image 6). Set it on medium heat.
- Let it roast until brown, slightly charred and well-cooked, around 7-10 minutes.
- Blend roasted peanuts, garlic, shallots, red chilis, palm sugar, and water in a food processor until fine.
- Pour into a sauce pan. Cook with medium heat. Add lime leaves, sweet soy sauce, salt, and mushroom powder. (image 7)
- Let it simmer and thicken (image 8). Taste it, add some salt if needed.
- Turn of the stove when the sauce thickens. Let it cool.
- Prepare a serving plate. Pour a ladle of peanut sauce on the plate. You may separate the peanut sauce if preferred.
- Arrange the satay on top of the peanut sauce. Sprinkle with fried shallots.
- Add Pickled Cucumber or sliced shallots and sliced chilis at the side and a lime wedge. Enjoy with steamed rice or rice cake (lontong)!
Expert Tips
- The best part of chicken to use is the chicken thigh, the meat is still juicy even after roasting.
- Sprinkle sweet soy sauce as topping if you can’t eat peanuts.
- Omit the chilis in the peanut sauce if you can’t eat spicy food.
FAQs about cheesecloth
Storage
Non-grilled satay can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days. If you have grilled the satay, it is highly recommended to eat it on the grilling day. Keep the grilled ones in the container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Sate Ayam Khas Senayan
Equipment
- 30 skewers
- 1 grilling pan
Ingredients
- 500 gr chicken thigh fillet cut into dice
Seasoning
- 3 garlic
- 5 shallots
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 6 cm galangal
- 90 gr sweet soy sauce
- 1 lime
- 1 tsp mushroom powder
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 300 ml water
Peanut Sauce
- 120 gr fried peanuts or roasted peanuts
- 3 garlic
- 5 shallots
- 4 red chilis
- 50 gr palm sugar
- 3 pcs lime leaves
- 300 ml water
- 1-2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/ s tsp mushroom powder
Instructions
- Cut the chicken fillet in 1×1 cm dice size. Set aside. Grind garlic, shallots, coriander seeds, galangal and 300 ml water in a food processor.
- Pour in a bowl with the chicken fillet. Add sweet soy sauce, lime, salt, mushroom powder, pepper. Add the seasoning and spice in the diced chicken fillet. Mix well.
- Cling wrap and put in the fridge for at least one hour or overnight.
- The next day, take out the marinated chicken. Arrange the diced chicken in a skewer one by one. One skewer can take 3-5 pcs depending on the size of the diced chicken.
- Prepare the grill pan on a stove. Spray some cooking oil on the pan. Put the satay on the grill. Set it on medium heat.
- Let it roast until brown, slightly charred and well-cooked, around 7-10 minutes.
- Blend roasted peanuts, garlic, shallots, red chilis, palm sugar, and water in a food processor until fine.
- Pour into a sauce pan. Cook with medium heat. Add lime leaves, sweet soy sauce, salt, and mushroom powder.
- Let it simmer and thicken. Taste it, add some salt if needed.
- Turn of the stove when the sauce thickens. Let it cool.
- Prepare a serving plate. Pour a ladle of peanut sauce on the plate. You may separate the peanut sauce if preferred.
- Arrange the satay on top of the peanut sauce. Sprinkle with fried shallots.
- Add Pickled Cucumber or sliced shallots and sliced chilis at the side and a lime wedge. Enjoy with steamed rice or rice cake (lontong)!
Video
Notes
- The best part of chicken to use is the chicken thigh, the meat is still juicy even after roasting.
- Sprinkle sweet soy sauce as topping if you can’t eat peanuts.
- Omit the chilis in the peanut sauce if you can’t eat spicy food.
I love this chicken satay recipe! The meat is still juicy and tender even after being roasted until slightly charred and the peanut sauce is a perfect balance of sweet and savoury flavors!