Satay is a Southeast Asian dish of seasoned meat or other ingredients grilled on skewers and commonly served with peanut sauce. Small pieces are threaded onto sticks, traditionally made from coconut-palm midribs or bamboo, then cooked over charcoal.
The dish is strongly associated with Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, and parts of the Philippines. Indonesia has especially wide regional variation, including chicken satay, goat satay, and Bali’s sate lilit, in which minced meat is wrapped around a stick or lemongrass stalk.
Peanut sauce is the familiar accompaniment, but it is not the only defining feature. Regional versions may use sweet soy sauce, sambal, spice pastes, cucumber relish, or rice cakes such as ketupat and lontong. The meat can be chicken, beef, goat, pork, seafood, or— in modern vegetarian versions—tofu.
Satay reflects culinary exchange across maritime trade routes. Kebab techniques and local Southeast Asian ingredients combined in port cities, producing a dish that spread through street-food cultures and later became popular worldwide.