Mouse Princess

Monday, March 2, 2009

Sate Babi [Sweet Pork Satay] ~yum!

Pork Satays - Can't get enough!

Thank god there's no good tv show today, otherwise I would have rested my butt in front of the tv after slaving in the kitchen and drift the precious hours away... Yeah, I've been postponing this entry because I was too busy watching the tv or the internet [Simpsons addiction!!]. I actually made these delicious pork satays last week and it took me some time to upload the pictures and select the good ones [throw the bad ones away right away due to this obsession to free up as much space as possible on my hard drive].

Alright, now let's talk about this sweet and savory dish. I was craving "sate babi" while I was swimming. Swimming always makes me hungry and think of food. The hunger takes me back to my childhood where our extended family spent the weekend at a swimming pool resort in the country [remember Surya in Pandaan?]. After the rigorous swimming activity, our parents would feed us with battered fried plaintains [pisang goreng], chicken satay [sate ayam], and meatball soup [bakso]... All the things I could barely have here in Canada... *drools*
My mind also flew back to when my siblings and I visit my grandparents. Our grandma always has food available in her house and she sometimes buys this fatty and sweet pork satays from an aunty who sells food door to door. I love eating these skewered meat, especially with rice! So, I googled "sate babi" and found the recipe on the Diary of a Foodaholic.

I made it with some modifications to accomodate the unavailability of certain ingredients, such as fresh galangal and candlenuts. Just click on the link for the original recipe, while I'll share what I modified! I can't believe that I could successfully make an Indonesian food. It tasted almost like the one I used to have back in my grandma's house. The only complaint is that I didn't grind the spice fine enough, so the eaters might feel kind of inconvenienced. I also chose the pork's shoulder butt chop because I thought it was well marbled and it turned out to be the perfect choice!

Indonesian Sweet Pork Satay

Pork Satays - Before going into the ovenPork Satays - with rice and pickles


Modifications:
Sub candlenuts with pecans
Sub fresh galangal with dried ones, soak in boiling water and use it to infuse the spice mixture while it was fried.
Sub shallots with red pearl onions
Sub grilling with roasting in the oven

I also serve it with pickled cucumbers and red pearl onions and of course, steamed rice! Love pickles!
Just chop up some english cucumbers and red onions. Add rice vinegar until they're well covered. Season with salt and sugar. Refrigerate for an hour, then serve!