Wafting in the air, the distinct aroma of lemon grass, molass and singed meat... sate' or satay. Malaysia's and Indonesia's answer to barbecued meat or kebab!
Is it from the root word "saute" - fried lightly or briefly? But the meat or chicken - for satay or sate' - is skewed and then barbecued. Very different methods of cooking, if you ask me
My introduction to this delicacy started a very, very long time ago. My grandmother prepared this every year without fail to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr. The lemon grass in the herbal garden came in handy. But the beef? Probably from the market which was 2.5 miles away. There were no chicken sate' then'.
She slaved over the "open hearth" to feed us and the congregation - those attending the Eid-ul-Fitri prayer will feast on it. The "surau" (mussola or small mosque) holds no more than 30. So, she normally prepared 300 sticks of sate'.
But what fascinated me to this day is this vivid image which I have not been able to shake loose. An old man carrying two wooden boxes straddling on a bamboo pool. When he sets up shop, it is a sight to behold.
He unpacks one box containing tiny wooden stools no more than ankle high and wide enough only for your berth. He lights up a small kerosene lamp on this particular box. Behold a "table" and three "chairs" for a "candle-lit" dinner.
Then the other wooden box filled with the tools of his trade - a "pandan" fan, a small charcoal griller, charcoal briquettes in a milo can... Voila! An instant kitchen.
He starts the fire instantaneously - or was it? From underneath your table he brings out the "lidi" (the "stems" from coconut fronds) skewed meat already marinated in recipe of sugar, lemon grass, corriander... He places them on his "make shift stove", fanned it furiously whilst occassionally basting it with another secret concoction of oil, sugar and part of the marinate. He will have to control the temperature by actually turning the sate on its sides frequently.
He plied his trade along Jalan Daud only or so he said. I missed him.
The aroma of slightly burnt dried lemon grass, burnt molasses and singed meat coupled with this typically romantic Malaysian scene of a couple sitting on stools with a kerosene lamp is beyond comparison. Candle lit dinner in a fancy restaurant, sparkling champagne crystal goblet, folded satin napkin, squeaky clean bone china plates, polished silver cutlery...can never equal that of my own picturesque scene.
Gone are those days...
Here in Muar, to this day (although a sombre day for me today when I write this for I have to bid my last farewell to my uncle) you can enjoy sate from breakfast to supper. Yes! Breakfast! Only in Muar!
Of course, on our family's not so routine trips to KL, we must stop in Kajang to savour their sate.
Fifteen years ago, I ventured into sate. I persuaded my mom to part with the family recipe. I started of with one stall in Jalan Kelang Lama in front of a Mamak Restaurant. I hired two Indonesian families to prepare the marinate, cut the meat, skewed the meat and prepared the sauce whilst I opened my stall after 7pm every day. Business was good. None could tell the difference when I burned both mine and that of the now hugely famous Sate Kajang - Except the price. Mine was 40sen each theirs was 50sen
I started off at 5am to buy all the stuff, hands them over to the Indonesian before I wandered off to look for odd jobs. Times were hard for me then. At 630pm I picked up the sate in my dad's Morris Minor and opened my stall till 1am. I finished cleaning up my RM3K aluminum stall around 2am.
Cash business! On a good day I raked in about RM300. Profit was 33%.
Three months later I added two more stalls - in front of UM and Taman Seputih. I hired more staff and rented a freezer. Frozen sate!
Daily takings increased three fold!
Once a week I would open up at Pasar Malam in Jalan Kucai.
I catered too! One was 30,000 sticks in UM, another of 50,000 sticks in Esso Tower, and a number of birthday parties. This lasted nearly a year.
Alas, I had no staying power! I sold off the stalls valued as slightly above scrap metal, the pots and pans, plastic tiffin sets...
(Prof. Lik Meng, can you grade this yarn? Better or worse than the last tale? The ending could be better)
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