Keuringsdienst van Waarde investigates: what exactly is satay?
Fries with satay, chicken satay pan, satay sauce, chicken satay salad for sandwiches, Chicken Tonight with satay, satay meatballs, vegetarian schnitzels with satay… You name it, and there’s a satay version of it. But what exactly is satay? It seems like something we all understand, but can’t explain exactly what it is or how it works. That’s precisely why Keuringsdienst van Waarde decided to investigate.
Is satay the meat? You might think so. But then explain the product satay sauce, which contains not a single piece of meat. Is it the sauce, then? No, because satay meatballs, for example, are sold without sauce. Could it be the spices? Not if we look to Indonesia’s culinary tradition; as Keuringsdienst van Waarde puts it, the ‘birthplace of satay’. There, ‘satay’ means something entirely different.
Satay experts have their say
Both satay expert Vanja van der Leeden (who wrote a cookbook about satay, Indostock—we already shared her recipes for authentic Indonesian satay ayam and truly delicious tempeh satay) and Indonesian culinary storyteller Ade Putri (whom presenter Marijn Frank interviewed in Indonesia) agree: in Indonesia, satay means grilled meat on a skewer. It can be anything, from chicken to lamb and beef to fish. Grilled mussels on a skewer count as satay too, for example.
In Indonesia, you certainly won’t be served the satay sauce as we know it—the kind sold in plastic tubs at the supermarket—with your satay. Satay ayam, or chicken satay, is sometimes served with a peanut sauce. But it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the satay sauce made by, for example, the Wijko brand. Indonesian peanut sauce is much more savory and spicy, and also thinner in texture.
Sweet satay sauces
In the Netherlands, we love sweet satay sauce. It’s essentially a creatively invented sauce that we now define as satay. Peanuts or peanut butter are unmistakable ingredients. “Now it’s satay,” says a chicken satay salad manufacturer as he gives presenter Ersin Kiris a tour of his factory and adds peanut butter to his sauce. Exactly what else goes into his chicken satay salad is a secret. Still, he does reveal that it contains, for example, sweet soy sauce and even very finely chopped dill.
Another manufacturer, Rimboesauzen, takes presenter Stefan Sasse behind the scenes. He shows him the ingredients list for his satay sauce: an endless list including garlic powder, anise, tomato purée, sugar and black pepper. Just like the chicken satay salad mentioned earlier, everything indicates that this sauce tastes sweet. Apparently, that’s exactly what we like in the Netherlands.
A creative Dutch twist
The conclusion? Satay in the Netherlands is an entirely different concept from satay in Indonesia. Indonesian culinary storyteller Ade Putri doesn’t know what she’s seeing—or tasting—when Marijn gives her various satay products from Dutch supermarkets. “I don’t recognize this as satay,” says Putri. “In Indonesia, we don’t have so many snacks and spices with the flavor of satay.” She describes Wijko’s satay sauce as “like a peanut butter smoothie and as wobbly as panna cotta.”
So, for real satay, you’ll have to go to Indonesia after all. And for Dutch satay? A short walk to the supermarket around the corner will do. If that works for you, then that’s absolutely fine. Because no matter how you look at it, somehow everything tastes better with Dutch satay sauce.
Watch the Keuringsdienst van Waarde episode here.
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