Minced pork satay (sate lilit bali)

This Indonesian recipe involves mixing a spicy paste with pork mince and then moulding it around sugarcane sticks, although you can use wooden skewers. They are then placed in a frying pan or on a grill and cooked until brown.

• makes

  36

• prep

  45 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

For this recipe you will need about 36 skewers. Made grows his own sugarcane and makes his own skewers. It is possible to use strong stalks from lemongrass as well, but if you are using bamboo or wooden sticks, soak them in cold water for several hours so they don’t burn.

Ingredients

• 2 brown onions, finely chopped  
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped  
• 4 bird's-eye chillies, chopped        
• 20 g ginger, sliced
• 20 g galangal, thinly sliced
• 10 g lesser galangal (kencur), thinly sliced
• 10 g turmeric, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp black peppercorn
• 2 cloves, chopped  
• 1 nutmeg, grated
• 5 g coriander seed
• 2 candlenuts, chopped
• 2 tbsp light palm sugar
• 2 tbsp tamarind paste
• salt, to taste    
• 1 kg pork, minced 
• 2 lime leaves, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp coconut milk
• fried onion flakes, to taste

Instructions

Place the brown onion, garlic, chilli, ginger, galangal, lesser galangal, turmeric, black peppercorn, cloves, nutmeg, coriander seed, candlenuts, light palm sugar, tamarind paste and salt in a mortar and pound with a pestle to a paste. Mix the spice paste through the minced pork. Add chopped lime leaf and coconut milk.  

Take 30 g of the mixture and shape into a ball, then stick the skewer into the ball and work the mixture around one end of the satay skewer until you have about 8 cm covered.  Repeat until all the mixture is used.

Grill on a barbecue or grill pan until golden brown. Season with fried onion flakes.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

For this recipe you will need about 36 skewers. Made grows his own sugarcane and makes his own skewers. It is possible to use strong stalks from lemongrass as well, but if you are using bamboo or wooden sticks, soak them in cold water for several hours so they don’t burn.