Passport & Plate - Balinese Satay

dee_s — Sat, 28 Feb 2015 10:23:38 GMT

Ingredients
Spice paste:
16 shallots (small brown onion, not the green shallots)
8 cloves of garlic
7 large red chills ( I de-seeded all but about three, but you can make it hotter by keeping all the seeds)
Knob of ginger
2 tbsp tumeric powder
1 tbsp coriander seeds
6 macadamias
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp white peppercorns
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp sesame seed
2 tsp dried shrimp paste
4 tbsp vegetable oil

Satay dish:

500g pork sirloin
1/4 cup spice paste (refer above)
1/4 tsp salt
1 kaffir leaf, sliiced finely
2 tbsp palm sugar
2 tbsp coconut milk
skewers

How to prepare this recipe
Method:

1. Pound in a mortar and pestle or food processor all of the above ingredients. I like to use a food processor for the dry ingredients and then transfer to a mortar and pestle when adding the oil ensuring it is fully incorporated.
2. Transfer to a pan and add two to three bay leaves and cook until the mixture turns from red to a golden brown.
Cool before using.

1. Using a food processor chop the pork until the meat is shredded (you don't want a mince)
2. Mix the meat thoroughly with the remaining ingredients.
3. To construct take a palm full of the mixture and make it into a round. Then wind around the sate sticks. Try to not use to much mixture around each skewer and keep the amount of meat wrapped around the skewers consistent (to ensure it cooks at the same time). It will look something like this:
4. Once you have completed the above step, then using a grill plate or bbq, grill each skewer until the meat is thoroughly cooked. I like to serve it on a banana leaf.

The story behind this recipe
My husband and I got married almost two years ago and we went to Bali for our honeymoon. It was a beautiful experience and one of the highlights of our trip was a cooking class we took. We got to learn about how much cooking was interwoven into their culture and learned some amazing techniques. This dish really stuck with me as it is so different to the way we usually think of a satay dish. It's beautiful flavour meld together perfectly.