Guest Post: Balinese Chicken Sate
I can’t stress enough how wonderful blogging is to get me connected to a lot of foodie friends around the world. Ira, who writes Cooking Tackle, is one of them that I am truly glad to have stumbled upon her blog. Ira lives in Bali, Indonesia – one of the most amazing places that I have visited.
She started blogging since 2008 and has been sharing a lot of scrumptious recipes and very beautiful food photography. I have been following her since and I am always thirst for her new posts and recipes.
Today, I am very happy to have Ira with us, sharing one of the most tasty dishes from Bali. Let’s welcome Ira!
First of all, I would like to thank Leemei for the invitation and a wonderful opportunity to be a guest on My Cooking Hut. It is great to be here and I feel truly honoured to be able to share a traditional Balinese food with all of you.
My name is Ira, a lucky woman who lives on a beautiful island of Indonesia—Bali. Bali is the island with gentle ocean and majestic towering cliffs. It’s a perfect place to cast off worries and enjoy life to the fullest! Bali does not only has its own breathtaking natural beauty but it also has one of the most enchanted cuisines that will surely make you falling in love with.
I am going to share one traditional Balinese dish – an authentic Balinese Chicken Sate (Sate Lilit Ayam) – skewers of minced chicken with freshly grated coconut and aromatic Balinese spices. Sate is an important dish to the Balinese people. Sate is always included as a ceremonial dish to be offered to the Gods. Sate is a symbol of a mace also known as “Gada” – a powerful weapon of God Brahmana – one of the Hindu Balinese Gods (Dewa Brahmana).
There are 13 different Balinese Sate. Learning Balinese cooking is like learning its culture – full of diversity and very colourful, which is fascinating! The basis that I like about Balinese food is the use of the most freshest spices that are abundantly available on the island – such fresh turmeric, fresh galangal, fresh ginger, fresh lemongrass and many more! That is the secret of Balinese food, which tends to taste rather spicy, exotic but authentic in overall flavour.
I feel completely overwhelmed as I can finally deliver and present Sate Lilit Ayam using typical handmade Balinese bamboo skewer. Don’t worry if you can’t find these bamboo skewer, you can always use ordinary bamboo skewers or even fresh lemongrass.
I hope that you will not be put off by the list of the spices. Perhaps, after analysing all the spice ingredients, all you need is your full patience. Frankly, I’ll be your most perfect guide to make you skilled to make authentic Balinese food! 🙂 And I guarantee that my authentic Balinese Chicken Sate recipe would be the best sate you will ever tasted!
Guest Post: Balinese Chicken Sate
Prep Time:
20 minutes
Cook Time:
30 minutes
Yield:
17-18 sate
Ingredients:
For the Guest Post: Balinese Chicken Sate:
200 chicken mince
1/3 cup cup fresh grated coconut
4 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
17 bamboo skewers or 17 stalks lemongrass
salt to taste
Spices to grind:
6 shallots
5 garlic cloves
5 red chillies
2 bird eye chillies
2 candle nuts, crushed and toasted
20g fresh kaempferia galanga (kencur), chopped
30gr fresh turmeric, chopped
40gr fresh galangal, chopped
3 kaffir lime leaves, torn
2 Indonesian bay leaves (daun salam)
1 lemongrass, bruised
½ tsp shrimp paste (terasi/belachan)
2 tbsp shaved coconut sugar, substitute palm sugar or brown sugar
Coconut oil or vegetable oil for frying
Method:
To make the spice paste:
1. Using mortar and pestle or food processor, combine all ingredients except lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and salam leaves and grind to smooth paste. Add a bit of water of cooking oil if needed to help blending.
2. Heat the oil in a wok, add the spice paste, lemongrass, salam leaves, and kaffir lime leaves. Cook over medium heat, cook until the spice paste becomes fragrant or has changed colour to almost golden brown. Set aside
To make the sate:
1. Place the chicken mince in a big bowl, add fresh grated coconut and finely sliced kaffir lime leaves, mix well to combine. Add 2 tablespoons of spice paste, season with salt. Mix until the chicken has evenly coated with the spice paste.
2. Take a heaped tablespoon of the mixture, place it on your palm and spread gently using the spoon. Take a bamboo skewer and place it onto the mixture, mould the mixture and press lightly onto the skewer. You can use fresh lemongrass as a skewer if you want.
