Beef Satay Recipe – Malaysian – Indonesian BBQ Skewers

  I posted the PERFECT Chicken Satay recipe earlier. Beef Satay is basically made the same way but you must choose very tender beef, and just a few adjustments in the spices.

Smoky, Exotic, with a special combination of spices and ingredients that provides that  ‘melt in mouth’ sensation. Delicious recipe!  I’ve also got the perfect Satay Peanut Sauce recipe to go with these tasty skewers. So what are you waiting for? 🙂

Beef Satay Recipe – Malaysian – Indonesian BBQ Skewers

Ingredients:

• 300 gms beef chuck tender- cut  across the grain to small pieces (2 × 2 ½ × 1 cm)
• 1 stalk lemon grass – to be used as a basting brush
• oil for basting
• You will need  – small sized bamboo skewers and charcoal for grilling

For Marinating the Beef:

• 4 shallots, peeled
• 2 large cloves garlic, peeled
• ¾ tsp fresh  juicy ginger, peeled
• ¾ tsp galangal, peeled – (also knows as lengkuas, laos or blue ginger – Info On Galangal– If you can not get Galangal, use extra ginger as substitute)
• ½ tsp fresh turmeric  (If you can not get fresh turmeric – substitute for — Turmeric powder)
• ½  tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp  fennel seeds
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp cayenne (chilli) powder
• ¾ Tbsp Palm Sugar (Gula Melaka) – If you do not have palm sugar, use  brown sugar instead
• 3 Tbsp sunflower oil or peanut oil
• 1 rounded Tbsp Tamarind pulp soaked in ¼ cup hot water for  10 minutes
• salt to taste

For serving:

• Onions cut into squares
• Sliced Cucumber
• Satay Peanut Sauce (Sambal Kacang / Bumbu Kacang – pronounced ‘Kachaang’). Get Recipe For Satay Peanut Sauce.

Method:

• Cut the beef across the grain into cubes. Rinse well and leave to drain.
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• Soak the tamarind in ¼ cup hot water for 10 minutes. Then use a strainer to strain and squeeze out the liquid from the pulp. Use 1  or 1 ½ Tbsp of this strained, thickened liquid tamarind solution for the recipe.

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• Heat a small pan. ‘Dry roast’ the cumin and fennel seeds, stirring till they emit a nice aroma and start to crackle. Make sure they don’t get burnt.
• Add all the ingredients for the marinade EXCEPT the Tamarind Solution to a small mixer/ blender  or food processor. Don’t forget the oil and salt as well.
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• Process/ Grind to a smooth paste.
• To a large bowl, add the beef.
• Add the tamarind solution to the ground paste and add to the beef.
• Rub well into the beef to coat completely.
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• Marinate in a covered container in the fridge for at least 4 hours and up till overnight if possible.
• Cut of the hard base of the lemon grass stalk and then crush/ bruise the bulb portion using a pestle or back of a knife. This forms the lemon grass stalk into a brush like utensil. We will use this to baste the meat with oil while grilling. It adds a nice aroma.

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• Soak the skewers in cool water till time to grill, so that they do not burn or break while grilling.

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• Prepare the peanut sauce for satay before it’s time to grill.
• Skewer the marinated beef pieces and Brush with lemongrass dipped in oil and place over hot charcoal. (wait till the coals are white).
• Or at home you can get the same charcoal effect  like this: Before threading the marinated beef, place the beef in a large bowl with a small steel cup/tumbler placed in the centre of the meat.
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• Heat the charcoal on a open flame till it’s piping RED Hot.

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• Immediately place inside the steel tumbler and pour 1 Tbsp of oil over it. As it begins to smoke, quickly cover the bowl and place a weight on top if needed to prevent the smoke from escaping.
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• Wait for 10 minutes, till the smoke has died down. The meat is now, nicely smoked. Continue to skewer.
• In a grill pan, drizzle some oil to coat the pan. Bring to a moderate heat. Grill on 1st side around 1-2 minutes, on a low- medium heat and maintain a sizzle.
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• Do not disturb , when the bottom is cooked, check to see if it gets released easily with a spatula.
• When you have nice grill marks, turn over and repeat on the other side. Baste with the lemongrass brush dipped in oil.
• Proceed to grill the remaining two narrow sides as well so that the meat is cooked through (about a minute per side). Gather the skewers closer together so that they dont fall over. Do not over grill, Test one piece to see for doneness.
• Set aside covered in foil till you are done grilling remaining skewers.
• Serve with sliced cucumber, onion and the satay peanut sauce!
• Enjoy!

Beef Satay Recipe – Malaysian – Indonesian BBQ Skewers

Try it and let us know – Beef Satay Recipe – Malaysian – Indonesian BBQ Skewers .