Chef Joost
Ajam Besengek
Ajam Besengek is the golden chicken stew of the Indo-Dutch table: coconut milk, turmeric, and candlenut cooked down until the sauce clings to the meat like memory.
Culinary Explorer
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Saté Sapi
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The name says it plainly, beef on skewers, but on the Dutch table saté sapi carries Java, colonial appetite, and the sweet black gloss of ketjap manis.
Appetizers & Snacks
Dutch
Dinner Party
BBQ
Celebration
25 min
Active Time
12 min cook•2 hr 37 min total
Yield4 servings
During my manuscript year in Fez I learned a useful thing about skewers: every old cooking culture has a way of putting meat near fire and calling it sensible. But saté sapi came to the Dutch table by another route, not through Arabic texts or Roman cookery, but through the Indo-Dutch household, where Indonesian food became part of Sunday meals, birthday tables, and the great crowded rijsttafel. History and cookery, they cannot be separated, especially when the grill smells of ketjap and garlic.
The name already tells you enough. Saté is the Dutch spelling of Indonesian sate, and sapi means cow or beef. No mystery, no Latin hiding behind the curtains. But let me tell you a secret: the importance of this dish in the Netherlands is not that it became foreign food we learned to eat. It became household food, the kind set beside chicken saté, pork saté, cucumber, kroepoek, and peanut sauce at a table where everyone reaches in at once.
The method asks for patience before it asks for fire. Beef needs time in ketjap manis, that sweet Indonesian soy sauce the Dutch learned to keep in the cupboard, with garlic, ginger, coriander, and a little acid to soften the edges. Then the grill must be hot and quick. Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple: small cubes, soaked skewers, a glossy marinade, and peanut sauce warm enough to spoon but not so thick it sits like mortar. This is food for a board in the middle of the table. Let the guests do the reaching.
Saté entered Dutch home cooking through the colonial connection with the Dutch East Indies, especially in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries as Indonesian dishes moved from colonial households into Indo-Dutch family kitchens and, after Indonesian independence, into the wider Netherlands through repatriated communities. Sate sapi, literally beef satay in Indonesian, became one strand of the Dutch saté board alongside chicken, pork, and goat versions, usually served with pindasaus, peanut sauce. Its place at barbecues and borrel tables shows how Indo-Dutch cooking became part of everyday Dutch hospitality rather than a separate restaurant category.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
beef sirloin, rump, or bavette
Quantity
600g
cut into 2.5cm cubes
ketjap manis
Quantity
4 tablespoons
neutral oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
finely grated
fresh ginger
Quantity
2 teaspoons
finely grated
ground coriander
Quantity
1 teaspoon
ground cumin
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
lime juice or tamarind water
Quantity
1 tablespoon
sambal oelek (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
bamboo skewers
Quantity
12
soaked for 30 minutes
coconut milk
Quantity
200ml
smooth peanut butter
Quantity
120g
ketjap manis for peanut sauce
Quantity
2 tablespoons
lime juice or tamarind water for peanut sauce
Quantity
1 tablespoon
sambal oelek for peanut sauce
Quantity
1 teaspoon
garlic clove for peanut sauce
Quantity
1 small
finely grated
warm water
Quantity
2 to 4 tablespoons
as needed
cucumber slices (optional)
Quantity
to serve
crisp fried onions (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| beef sirloin, rump, or bavettecut into 2.5cm cubes | 600g |
| ketjap manis | 4 tablespoons |
| neutral oil | 1 tablespoon |
| garlic clovesfinely grated | 2 |
| fresh gingerfinely grated | 2 teaspoons |
| ground coriander | 1 teaspoon |
| ground cumin | 1/2 teaspoon |
| lime juice or tamarind water | 1 tablespoon |
| sambal oelek (optional) | 1 teaspoon |
| salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| bamboo skewerssoaked for 30 minutes | 12 |
| coconut milk | 200ml |
| smooth peanut butter | 120g |
| ketjap manis for peanut sauce | 2 tablespoons |
| lime juice or tamarind water for peanut sauce | 1 tablespoon |
| sambal oelek for peanut sauce | 1 teaspoon |
| garlic clove for peanut saucefinely grated | 1 small |
| warm wateras needed | 2 to 4 tablespoons |
| cucumber slices (optional) | to serve |
| crisp fried onions (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •12 bamboo or metal skewers
- •Barbecue, grill pan, or heavy skillet
- •Small saucepan for peanut sauce
Instructions
- 1
Marinate the beef
Stir the ketjap manis, oil, garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, lime juice or tamarind water, sambal if using, and salt in a bowl. Add the beef cubes and turn them until every side is dark and glossy. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to overnight. Beef is less forgiving than chicken; the marinade gives flavour, but the small cubes are what keep the skewers tender.
- 2
Make peanut sauce
Put the coconut milk, peanut butter, ketjap manis, lime juice or tamarind water, sambal, and grated garlic in a small pan. Warm gently, stirring until smooth. Add warm water a spoonful at a time until the sauce falls from the spoon in a thick ribbon. Do not boil it hard; peanut sauce sulks when bullied.
- 3
Thread the skewers
Thread the beef onto the soaked bamboo skewers, leaving a little space between pieces so the heat can reach all sides. Keep the pieces close in size. A skewer is only as done as its largest cube, which is why uneven chopping has ruined more saté than weak fire ever did.
If using wooden skewers over charcoal, soak them well and leave the bare handles away from the hottest part of the grill. Burnt handles are dramatic in the wrong way. - 4
Grill hot
Heat a barbecue, grill pan, or heavy skillet until very hot. Grill the skewers for 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning until the edges are browned and the ketjap has gone lacquer-dark in spots. Stop while the beef still gives slightly when pressed. Saté sapi should taste of fire and sweet soy, not of apology.
- 5
Serve together
Spoon the warm peanut sauce into a bowl and set the skewers beside it with cucumber slices and crisp fried onions. Serve at once, with extra sambal for those who want it. I prefer to keep it a bit more relaxed, in the Dutch way: everything on a board, everyone reaching, no ceremony pretending to be tradition.
Chef Tips
- •Use beef with flavour and a little tenderness: rump, bavette, sirloin, or ribeye if the butcher has been kind to you. Stewing beef belongs in hachee, not on a quick skewer.
- •Ketjap manis matters. Thin Japanese soy sauce will make a salty marinade, not the dark sweet glaze this dish needs. If you must improvise, use soy sauce with dark brown sugar, but know what you are replacing.
- •For a dinner party, grill the skewers just before serving and keep the peanut sauce warm over the lowest heat. If it thickens, loosen it with warm water, not more coconut milk.
Advance Preparation
- •The beef can marinate overnight in the refrigerator; thread it onto skewers up to 4 hours before grilling and keep covered and cold.
- •The peanut sauce can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Reheat gently with a splash of warm water until it returns to a spoonable ribbon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 280g)
Calories
635 calories
Total Fat
41 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
24 g
Cholesterol
130 mg
Sodium
800 mg
Total Carbohydrates
22 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
13 g
Protein
45 g
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