Barbequed marinated or seasoned meat on stick that some may likened like kebab. Meat is usually mutton, beef or chicken. Less common ones are babat (beef tripe) or prawn. Satay dipped in peanut sauce. Eaten with ketupat or rice cubes and slices of cucumbers and onions. The ketupat rice cubes (shaped like squarish cubes as can be seen in the below photo) are not glutinous rice but rice cakes packed traditionally in diamond-shaped woven palm leaf pouch then cut into rice cubes. The ketupat taste is similar to rice cakes in gado-gado,
soto ayam or
lontong.
Thought to be originally from Indonesia, satay is commonly found in South-East countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and of course Singapore. You can find satay in most
hawker or food centres and they are usually sold by the Malays.
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| (L-R) Beef, chicken, mutton and babat (tripe) satay |
My favourite satay meat is mutton. Some may not like the smell of mutton, but I love mutton satay! When you put the meat, rice cube, cucumber and onions together on the stick it will look like kebab.
If we sit too close to the grilled smokey stall, the smell may stick to our clothes but that is the novelty, smelling the aroma of smokey grilled satay. Price varies between 50 to 60 cents a stick. So, if you get ten sticks plus ketupat it will still be less than $10. For foreign visitors some popular satay places here include Lau Pa Sat where prawn satay is a hit, Gluttons Bay and Satay by the Bay as they are located in the city area closer to tourist attractions.
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Satay on charcoal grill
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A favourite satay stall is Haron Satay at East Coast Lagoon Food Centre (stall no. 55), a large
hawker centre by East Coast lagoon and beach, which is scenic due to its beach location, hence the name. There are actually quite a number of satay stalls there, so you will be spoilt for choice.
East Coast Lagoon Food Centre is less accessible to tourists as public buses to the area is rather limited. However, to those who made the journey there (taking taxi is the better option), they will be rewarded with satay that is tender and juicy.
At Lau Pa Sat many have said that Best Satay No. 7 and 8 stalls are the best. They have prawn satay, for those who prefer seafood, and they make it into smoky saltish prawns, which are quite delicious!
Other favourite satay place includes
Bedok Food Centre, a
hawker centre located along Bedok Road near an army camp, which is at the eastern part of Singapore. Just like Lau Pa Sat, Gluttons Bay at Marina Bay which is next to the Esplanade Theaters on the Bay and Satay by the Bay at Gardens by the Bay (closer to Marina Barrage) cater more to the tourists' market as these
hawker and food centres are within tourists' areas.
The satay is all delicious whether they are sold in the heartlands or at tourist spots. Just a matter of convenience of where you are. Just like you can find
roti prata or
teh-tarek just about anywhere in Singapore. By the way,
Bedok Food Centre is also affectionately known as Bedok Corner by long-time residents who reside in the east like me.
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| Ketupat |
The top photo of a plate of satay was taken at
Bedok Corner. And you can find tasty satay at Simpang Bedok,
Changi Village,
Geylang Serai and at Haig Road Hawker Centre as well. So,
hawker centres are the go-to places for authentic satay experience. As you can see some of the best satays are found in the eastern part of Singapore. Coming from someone who lives in the eastern part of Singapore, I am a bit biased :).
Historically in the olden days, up till the 1970s, satay is sold by itinerant street hawkers. They would set up their portable stall by the roadside and would grill the satay over charcoal. The first satay club was set up near Beach Road which later moved to Esplanade. But with the development of Esplanade, Theaters on the Bay, it shifted to Clarke Quay, yes, the party area of Clarke Quay. Well, Clarke Quay used to be more family friendly area.
The satay club at Clarke Quay unfortunately is long gone. Now you can find satay just about anywhere as mentioned above which is great. Many people still yearn for that good old satay club at Esplanade, though. The street art painting by local artist Yip Yew Chong shows the way satay was cooked and enjoyed long ago. You can find this wall mural at Kampong Glam.
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| Gado-gado satay |
As for the ketupat, at many shops and supermarkets you can find modern style ketupat rice filled in square plastic pouches that you can boil at home. Unfortunately, time-consuming ketupat weaving is now mostly done during festive season such as Hari Raya as modern life is fast catching up. And as for satay price, with inflation, a stick of satay has since gone up bit to 60 to70 cents. The 50 cents a stick is long gone.
And for a novelty you can also try the delicious gado-gado satay at Gluttonbays
food centre and East Coast Lagoon Food Centre, which is a combination of both gado-gado and two sticks of satay with a satay gravy. Another satay-ish flavour dish is mee rebus tarik which you can get at Yunus N Family at
Ang Mo Kio Central Market and Food Centre.
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