Indonesian Lamb Satay

One of my most popular dishes. I often serve it with tabouli (which is Middle Eastern, not Indonesian), but it can also be served with rice.

Serves 8-10 people.

July 2002 - in Podgorica, Montenegro

Half a leg of lamb (about 3 pounds). A full leg of lamb if you are serving more people. (In this case, double the recipe for the marinade/sauce.) Have the butcher bone the lamb and cut it into small chunks. You, then, simply have to cut the meat into one-inch cubes, trimming away any fat or gristle.

Marinade

½ cup Indonesian soy sauce (or  ½ cup regular soy sauce plus 1 teaspoon of dark molasses)

1 teaspoon of ground hot red pepper (vary according to taste).

¾ cup hot water

½  cup chunky peanut butter (if you prefer, you can reduce the amount of peanut butter to 1/3 cup and add ½ cup ground dry roasted peanuts)

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

juice of a lemon

• Combine all the ingredients for the marinade and bring to a boil in a saucepan, stirring until smooth.
• Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature
• Use half the sauce to marinade the meat or chicken, reserving the remainder of the sauce. Turn meat in the marinade from time to time.
• Marinade the lamb in half the sauce for at least an hour, Skewer lamb on small wooden skewers.
• Cook lamb over charcoal, if possible, otherwise, under the broiler. Do not overcook. Turn the meat as it is cooking. Each skewer should take no more than 5 minutes.
• Serve with hot peanut sauce.

 Additional ingredients for sauce

1 cup tomato sauce

juice of another lemon

1 teaspoon tobasco sauce

¼ cup water or stock

• To the rest of the sauce, add ¼  cup water or stock (beef, chicken or vegetable), the tomato sauce, the juice of another lemon and the tobasco sauce.
• In a small saucepan, bring the ingredients to a boil – and then remove from the heat.
• Adjust seasoning – you can add more lemon juice, more tobasco sauce.
• Serve sauce as an accompaniment to the skewered lamb or chicken.