Beef Satay (Neua Satay)

Satay is ubiquitous in Thailand—you can find it as street food, or even as an appetizer in a sit-down restaurant. When I was a kid, we frequented a neighborhood restaurant that sold mostly noodles, but the satay and peanut sauce was their specialty appetizer. The satay was always the highlight of the meal for me, more so than the noodles! While most satays in Thailand are made from pork nowadays, the original satay came to Thailand as beef, because it originated from Indonesia, a primarily Muslim country that does not eat much pork. This slowly changed to pork because in Thailand pork is more accessible. Our satay is always served with white toast and ajaad, a quick cucumber pickle that serves as a crunchy, fresh and acidic element to balance the richness of the peanut sauce. The toast is there to sop up any extra peanut sauce left at the end, and it’s my favourite part of satay!