Sate Lilit

Sate Lilit is Bali's signature sate — and it looks nothing like the Javanese version. Where most Indonesian sate is small pieces of meat on a bamboo skewer, Sate Lilit is a long, thin sausage of finely ground meat wrapped around a skewer — usually lemongrass, which is also a key flavoring. The ground meat (traditionally pork, but also chicken, fish) is mixed with a paste of coconut, lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, candlenut, garlic, and a long list of Balinese spices. The mixture is pressed tightly around the lemongrass skewer, then grilled over coconut-shell charcoal until the outside is crisp and the inside is juicy. The dish is Balinese in every dimension. The use of *base genep* (the Balinese spice paste) is the foundation of Balinese cooking, and Sate Lilit is one of its most accessible expressions. The use of pork reflects Bali's Hindu culture — while Muslim Java avoided pork, Bali embraced it. Sate Lilit is found at every *warung* in Bali, every beachside grill, every hotel breakfast. It's served with a *sambal matah* — a raw Balinese chili relish with shallots, lemongrass, and lime.