Satay began in Java, where cooks borrowed the idea of skewered meat from Middle Eastern and South Asian traders and made it entirely their own. The most loved version is sate ayam, chicken, in the style of the island of Madura: little pieces of meat glazed with kecap manis, grilled over charcoal until sticky and spotted black, and buried in peanut sauce. Vendors once carried their grills on shoulder poles; today they work from carts, roadside warungs and the edges of every market, football ground and night festival, fanning the coals with a woven fan and the smoke in your direction.

It is the definitive crowd snack: cheap, quick, eaten standing, and sold by the dozen. At home a hot grill pan or the broiler does a very respectable impression of the charcoal. The peanut sauce is the heart of it, and it keeps for days, which means half the work can be done before the weekend begins.

The peanut sauce

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil
• 3 shallots
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 red bird's eye chilies
• 1 1/4 cups (180 g) roasted unsalted peanuts
• 2 tablespoons (25 g) palm sugar
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) kecap manis
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) water
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lime juice

The chicken skewers

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb (680 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) kecap manis
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

To serve

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons fried shallots
• 1 lime
• 1 small cucumber
• 4 cups (about 700 g) lontong or steamed jasmine rice

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