Name: Satay (Sate Ayam)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indonesian
Ingredients: 500 g Chicken thigh (or breast); 12 Wooden skewers; 2 tbsp Soy sauce (or kecap manis); 1 tsp Turmeric; 1 tsp Ground coriander; 2 cloves Garlic; 1 tbsp Cooking oil; 1 tsp Sugar; 4 tbsp Peanut butter (or ground peanuts); 100 ml Coconut milk (or water); 1 tbsp Soy sauce; 1 tbsp Lime juice; 1 tbsp Sugar; 1 tsp Chili (sambal or flakes)

Ingredients

4servings

Chicken thigh (or breast) · 2cm cubes500 g
Wooden skewers · soaked 30 min12
Marinade
Soy sauce (or kecap manis)2 tbsp
Turmeric1 tsp
Ground coriander1 tsp
Garlic · minced2 cloves
Cooking oil1 tbsp
Sugar1 tsp
Peanut sauce
Peanut butter (or ground peanuts)4 tbsp
Coconut milk (or water)100 ml
Soy sauce1 tbsp
Lime juice1 tbsp
Sugar1 tbsp
Chili (sambal or flakes) · optional1 tsp

Steps

Cube the chicken. Mix the marinade, set a few spoonfuls aside for glazing, and toss the chicken with the rest; rest at least 30 minutes (overnight if you can).
⏲ 30 min
Soak the wooden skewers 30 minutes so they don't burn, then thread on the chicken.
⏲ 5 min
Peanut sauce: warm the peanut butter, coconut milk, soy, lime, sugar, and chili in a small pan over low heat until smooth (thin with water if needed).
⏲ 5 min
Heat a grill pan or skillet over high heat (lightly oiled).
⏲ 2 min
Grill the skewers, turning, 2–3 minutes per side until charred and cooked through (8–10 minutes total). In the last minute, brush with the reserved marinade (or leftover marinade boiled for a minute).
⏲ 9 min
Plate with the peanut sauce and serve with lime, red onion, and cucumber — great with rice or lontong (rice cakes).
⏲ 1 min

Variations

Sate kambing: Use lamb instead of chicken.
Beef/pork/shrimp: Use your favorite protein.
Kecap manis: Indonesian sweet soy for a richer, sweeter glaze.
Oven/air-fryer: No grill needed — roast at 200°C.

Tips

Marinate at least 30 minutes, ideally overnight for deep flavor.
Soak wooden skewers so they don't burn.
Char over high heat for smoky flavor but don't overcook.
Adjust the peanut sauce with water or coconut milk if too thick.

More detail and the reasons why (4)

Two things matter when brushing with the marinade. The marinade has raw chicken sitting in it, so anything painted on in the last thirty seconds never gets hot enough to be cooked — reserve a few spoonfuls before the chicken goes in, or bring the leftover to a boil for a minute and use that. And the marinade carries sugar and soy: sugar colours fast but burns (grilling), so a sweet glaze belongs in the last minute over the fire rather than brushed on throughout.
The peanut sauce is an emulsion, which is why it behaves the way it does. Peanut butter is ground nut held together by its own oil, and coconut milk is fat suspended in water; warmed together and stirred they hold, and left to stand they stiffen and then separate as the fat coalesces (emulsions). Thinning with water or coconut milk is not a shortcut, it is the repair — and it works better warm than cold.
The sauce never goes near the fire, and that is the design. Ground peanut is about half fat, and over coals that fat melts, runs and burns, so suya uses peanut pressed dry into a powder while satay keeps the peanut off the grill entirely and pours it over afterwards. Gado-gado is the branch where the same sauce dresses vegetables, and mee rebus is where peanut is a seasoning rather than the sauce.
Thigh, 2cm, and only two to three minutes a side. At that size the cube is cooked through in about the time it takes to char, which is what the recipe's timing assumes; larger cubes force you to choose. Kecap manis in the variations is Indonesian sweet soy — thick with palm sugar, so it glazes better and burns sooner, as mie goreng and nasi goreng both use it for.

The basics behind this dish

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