Amazing Indonesian Food: 7 Types Of Satay You Must Try!

One of the tasty Indonesian food is Sate or Satay. In my opinion, Indonesian Satay is one of the most delicious and unique dishes globally. It’s also one of the local food that tourists most search for. There are many types of Satay in Indonesia.

Indonesian Satay has a different taste. From light and sweet flavors to solid and rich flavors. In Indonesia, satay is served with rice cakes. Lontong and Ketupat are Indonesian rice cakes wrapped in banana or coconut leaves. Then, it is also served with acar (pickles) or sambal (spicy sauce)

Amazing Indonesian Food: 5 Types of Satay You Must Try! — Satay with lontong and pickels by Gunawan Kartapranata, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Mostly, Satay is covered with peanut sauce. Yet, Satay sauce can be different depending on the region. Some sauces can be just sweet soya bean sauce or spicy sambal.

The Satay vendor sells them around by carrying their merch on their shoulder or pushing the cart. Below is an interesting picture of a Satay vendor in Klaten, a Regency in Central Java.

Indonesian Food: Types of Indonesian SATAY you should try

Kere Satay

Kere means poor. It had already existed since the colonial era when the Netherland occupied Indonesia. The meat was expensive and exclusive food at that time. So, they made this dish to taste it with different ingredients.

Kere Satay is a simple and light dish. The satay is made from Tofu or Tempe. So, if you are a vegan, it is a safe food to eat! However, there is also Satay Kere which is made of chicken, beef, and goat’s offal. Like the stomach, intestines, liver, or tongue.

It tastes sweet as it’s marinated in sweet soya sauce and then grilled. And it is served with some pieces of rice cakes and pickles. You can find this type of Satay in Surakarta, Solo.

Buntel Satay

Sate Buntel or Buntel Satay is a Satay made of minced goat’s meat and covered with its fat. I don’t eat Satay Buntel much as it is pretty rare. But when I find a good one, I would like to eat more than one stick.

I love when eating Satay Buntel because the sweet taste will explode in my mouth. The meat is marinated in mixed ingredients, including soya sauce. Satay Buntel’s sauce uses soya sauce with pickles and chili pepper. You can read my other writing about Satay Buntel here.

Lilit Satay

This special Indonesian food originally came from Bali. It can use various meats like chicken, fish, beef, pork, or turtle. This type of satay is unique as it uses lemongrass stems to stick the meat, not a wooden stick like other satays. Additionally, it is as big as Satay Buntel.

Moreover, the seasoning and sauce are also different from most satay recipes. As the meat mixed with grated coconut and coconut milk, and the sauce is using Balinese sambal.

Klatak Satay

Sate Klatak or Klatak Satay is a unique satay as it uses metal bars as the skewers. For the meat, it used young goats. Unlike other satays that are marinated before its grilled, Satay Klatak only uses salt.

The metal skewer is believed can conduct the heat better than ordinary bamboo skewers, and it also can make the meat tender.

Padang Satay

Sate Padang or curry beef satay is one of my favorites. The sauce is richer in flavors as it uses many spices like turmeric, chili, peanuts, and more. The color of the sauce is yellow to brown, and it is thick. Once you eat it, you will want more.

Taichan Satay

Satay Taichan is lighter in taste than other kinds of satay, yet it is tasty. The seasoning for the marination and the process also differs from other satays. The seasoning is chopped garlic, chicken broth powder, sugar, kaffir lime juice, and pepper.

The meat is marinated for about 15 minutes. Afterward, the meat is grilled until it’s yellow-brown. It is served with sambal that is bird chilies, garlic, salt, sugar, and boiled tomato that already grind. Saute the sambal briefly, then put the sambal on the satay.

Maranggi Satay

Sate Maranggi or Maranggi satay is originally from Purwarkarta. It is a marinated sheep satay.

Each of the skewers has three slices of meat that symbolize a philosophy called Tri Tangtung that consist of determination, speech, and action.

efore grilling, the meat is marinated with assorted spices like ginger, turmeric, coriander, galangal, vinegar, and palm sugar. Moreover, usually, it is served with soy sauce, pickled tomato chili, and grilled sticky rice.