Recipe
Sate lilit: minced satay wrapped on lemongrass
Check dates to cook this with Chef Wayan in Petulu.
IDR 450.000per guest, shared class
Balinese minced satay: fish or chicken worked with base genep and coconut, pressed onto lemongrass stalks, then grilled.
By Chef Wayan Suryana, Warung Tumang BaliLast updated First published
Serves 12 lemongrass skewers·Prep 30 minutes·Cook 12 minutes
Sate lilit in short
Sate lilit is Balinese minced satay. Mix minced fish or chicken with fried base genep, grated coconut, lime leaf, palm sugar, and salt until it holds, press it around lemongrass stalks, and grill until speckled. It makes 12 skewers in about 40 minutes. Guests wrap it at Warung Tumang Bali in Petulu.
For sate lilit, the mince is seasoned until it holds, then pressed in a ribbon around a lemongrass stalk so the stalk flavors the meat as it grills.
Fish is the usual mince in a coastal recipe. In Petulu the class uses what the market sold that morning, often a firm white fish or chicken. The paste and the coconut matter more than the protein.
Sate lilit ingredients
- 400g finely minced firm fish or chicken thigh
- 3 tablespoons fried base genep
- 50g freshly grated coconut
- 2 lime leaves, very finely sliced
- 1 teaspoon palm sugar
- Salt
- 12 lemongrass stalks, trimmed but left long enough to hold
- Coconut oil, for the grill
How to make sate lilit
- Mix the mince, fried base genep, coconut, lime leaf, palm sugar, and salt until the paste feels tacky and holds a ball. If it slumps, add a little more coconut, not breadcrumbs.
- Wet your hands. Press a heaped spoonful around the thicker end of each lemongrass stalk, leaving a handle.
- Brush with coconut oil and grill over moderate charcoal or a hot ridged pan, turning, until the outside is speckled and the center is just cooked. Chicken needs a little longer than fish.
- Rest two minutes. Eat with sambal matah and rice. The lemongrass is a handle, not a bite, unless it has gone soft.
Wrapping the stalks is the part guests remember. The group works down one table, then takes the skewers to the charcoal grill beside the kitchen.
Sate lilit questions
- How is sate lilit different from regular satay?
- Regular satay is cubes of meat on a skewer. Sate lilit is seasoned mince wrapped around a lemongrass stalk, so the stalk flavors the meat as it grills. Lilit means to wrap.
- Should I use fish or chicken?
- Either. Firm white fish is the usual choice, and chicken thigh works too. In Petulu the class uses what the market sold that morning.
- Why does my sate lilit fall off the stick?
- The mince is too wet or under-mixed. Mix until it feels tacky, add a little more grated coconut rather than breadcrumbs, and wet your hands before pressing.
- Can I cook sate lilit without a grill?
- Yes. A hot ridged pan works. Brush the skewers with coconut oil and turn them until the outside is speckled and the center is just cooked.
- Can I wrap sate lilit in Petulu?
- Yes. Wrapping the lemongrass is the part guests remember at Warung Tumang Bali, Banjar Laplapan, Petulu, Bali 80571, about 10 minutes from central Ubud. Check dates here, then WhatsApp or email this site.
Cook next from the same kitchen
- Base genepHow to make base genep (bumbu Bali): pound shallot, garlic, roots, and candlenut, then fry 8–10 minutes until the raw smell is gone. From a Petulu kitchen.
- Peanut sauce for sateBalinese peanut sauce (bumbu kacang): fry peanuts, grind them with chili, garlic, and shallot, then simmer with palm sugar and sweet soy. No peanut butter.
- Jackfruit sate lilitHow to make vegan sate lilit: young jackfruit, coconut, and fried base genep without shrimp paste, pressed onto lemongrass and grilled. Twelve skewers, 55 min.
Learn it by hand in Bali
- Learn to make sate lilit in BaliLearn to make sate lilit in Bali by hand: sticky mince on lemongrass, pressed tight, grilled over charcoal in a Petulu kitchen about 10 minutes from Ubud.
- Balinese dishes worth learning by handWhich Balinese dishes to learn in a Bali cooking class: base genep, sate lilit, sambal matah, pepes, and dadar gulung by hand; betutu and tipat at home.
Plan the food day around this dish
- Where the spice table sits on a food dayHow to read a Balinese spice table: chili, shallot, garlic, turmeric and roots, coconut, lime leaf, banana leaf, and what changes when the menu is plant-based.
- Ubud at night, built around foodThings to do in Ubud at night for food lovers: cook dinner at a 2:30pm Petulu class, watch the herons roost at dusk, or keep a long warung plate near your hotel.
- The Petulu herons at duskThousands of white herons fly into Petulu village near Ubud every evening. Arrive about 5pm, park by the north booth, and watch from the platform mid-village.