Sate Cumi Kecap - Squid Sate with Sweet Soy Sauce

(These pictures are also old stocks, so you will find 2008 as the year)

This recipe is not the Indonesian's classic sate variants. I myself like to use a word sate rather than satay. However, we can make sate with whatever you feel like, including tofu and tempe. Yupss make it vegetarian. Literally, sate means sate, cumi (pronounced: chu mee) means squid and kecap (pronounced: ketchup) means sweet soy sauce. Sate Cumi Kecap can be translated as Squid Sate with Sweet Soy Sauce.

Rustle up something that you have been yearned for so long, is not that easy, for I have been hectic. Particularly, provided your squids are frozen :D.

As I glanced through several pages on the internet, I stumbled on mbak Ima's multiply and this link which have the same recipe; hence, I settled on those recipe by adapting them. Mine is slightly different with theirs.

I enhanced with candlenuts, lemon grass, coriander seed, and calamansi. However, kecap manis and peanuts are still used, just like the classic Indonesian sate.

I chose organic peanut butter rather than the regular one. Based on my experience, putting regular peanut butter will change the taste after the sauce simmered. Organic peanut butter usually only contains peanuts and seasalt or sometimes just ground peanuts. You also can go to some stores that provide peanuts with the grinder; thus, grind them by yourself there, and you will get fresh peanut butter.


Sate Cumi Kecap
(Squid Sate with Sweet Soy Sauce)
adapted from mbak Ima, modified by me

Ingredients:
2 lbs squids
1/2 cup Indonesian kecap manis
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter (preferably organic peanut butter)
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1 tbsp ground frozen lemongrass
small skewers as many as you need

Ground Spices
8 shallots (in case you use smaller size as I had while I was in Indonesia, you may require 16 shallots)
7 cloves garlic
3 candlenuts
1 cm ginger
1/4 tsp ground star anise
1 tsp ground coriander seed

Additional:
some more shallots, sliced
chillies, sliced
calamansi

Directions:
1. Rinse off squids and marinate with ground spice, kecap manis, peanut butter, ground lemongrass and melted margarine for an hour.

2. Soak skewers in water for about 20 minutes so skewers don't burn over heat.

3. Place a squids on a skewer, do until all squid finished.

4. Grill or broil until cooked through. Brush squid with leftover marinade while cooking. I used a pan grill.

Peanut Sauce:
Place leftover marinade in a saucepan and simmer until bubbling. Combine with sliced shallots and sliced chilies. Squeeze calamansi over and mix. Serve this with squid sate and warmed rice.