Satay

Satay (also written sat?) is a dish that may have originated in Sumatra or Java in Indonesia but is popular in many southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. In the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, satay is a breakfast dish while elsewhere in Malaysia it is eaten in the evening. A close analog in Japan is yakitori. Additionally shish kebab is also very similar to satay.

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Recipes and ingredients vary from country to country. It generally consists of chunks or slices of meat on bamboo or coconut leaf spine skewers grilled over a wood or charcoal fire. Turmeric is often used to marinate satay and gives it a characteristic yellow color. Meats used include beef, venison, fish, shrimp or poultry. It may be served with a spicy peanut sauce dip, or peanut gravy, slivers of onions and cucumbers, and ketupat. An Indonesian version uses a soy-based dip.

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Some allege that satay was invented by Chinese immigrants who sold the skewered barbecue meat on the street (the word satay means "triple stacked" (三疊) in Amoy dialect), it is also possible that it was invented by Malay or Javanese street vendors influenced by the Arabian kebab. The latter explanation is more likely as satay only became popular after the arrival of Arab immigrants in the early 19th Century. The original satay meat, mutton, is also a meat traditionally favoured by Arabs, but not very popular with the Chinese. Chinese mostly prefer pork or chicken meat.

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Sumatra: Sumatra (also spelled Sumatara and Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest part of Indonesia....

Java: Java () is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. Once the center of powerful Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia. Home to a population ...

Indonesia: The Republic of Indonesia is located in the Malay Archipelago, the world's largest archipelago, between Indochina and Australia, between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the most populous Muslim-majority nation in the world and the fourth most populous overall. It has had free elections since th...