Recipe: Indonesian Beef Satays with Peanut Sauce

Indonesian food is a much loved Asian cuisine in Australia. There are strong Indonesian influences in many modern-Australian dishes, especially those served in restaurants in Darwin and North Queensland.

My mother-in-law grew up in Indonesia and cooks many delicious authentic Indonesian dishes. This is a simplified version of one of her recipes, and uses peanut butter as a shortcut for the peanut sauce. My husband appeared on SBS Food Safari (the Indonesian episode) and demonstrated this dish. It was a lot of fun having Maeve and her film crew do their thing at our place, however it was a particularly cold day in the middle of winter and everyone froze when we moved outside to cook the satays on the barbeque!

This dish really lends itself to warm-weather alfresco dining – it’s great summer food. Even though the satays are best cooked on a barbeque, they can just as easily be cooked under a grill or in a chargrill pan in the kitchen.

Be warned: high calorie alert with the peanut sauce!  It’s incredibly moreish and hard to stop at just one spoonful.

Ingredients (serves 4):
1 kg rump steak, cut into bite-sized chunks

Marinade:
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
5 tablespoons kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) – available from Asian food stores
2 tablespoons peanut oil
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander

Peanut Sauce
2 teaspoons peanut oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2-3 bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
200ml coconut milk
Juice of ½ lime
1 tablespoon kecap manis
1-2 teaspoons grated palm sugar or brown sugar (to taste)
¼ teaspoon salt

To garnish:  Lime wedges

Equipment:
About 16 bamboo skewers, soaked in cold water for 1 hour

Method:
1.    Combine the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add the beef and mix well. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 3 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
2.    For the peanut sauce: Heat the oil in a wok or medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, chilli and coriander and fry for 2-3 minutes or until the onion starts to soften. Add the peanut butter, coconut milk, lime juice, kecap manis, sugar and salt. Stir well and cook until sauce starts to simmer. Taste for seasoning, adding more lime juice, sugar or salt if necessary.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.
3.    When marinating has finished, thread the beef pieces onto the skewers.
4.    Heat a barbeque or grill to medium heat and cook skewers for 6-8 minutes or until beef is cooked to your liking, turning occasionally.
5.    While the satays are cooking, gently warm the peanut sauce over the stove.
6.    Serve the beef satays with the peanut sauce and lime wedges. Accompany with steamed jasmine rice.