Sate

 As described, sate is one of the most popular and beloved dishes in Indonesian cuisine. It refers to a dish of seasoned, skewered, and grilled meat served with a sauce.

Sate is typically made with small pieces of chicken, beef, pork, mutton, fish, or seafood, but it can be made with many other types of meat and vegetables as well. They’re skewered on bamboo sticks and grilled over charcoal before being served with a variety of sauces, most often a combination of peanut sauce and kecap manis.

Sate is such a popular dish that it’s become a staple food in many other cuisines as well. It’s believed to have been developed by Javanese street food sellers who were trying to replicate Indian kebabs.

From Java, sate spread throughout the Malay archipelago, into countries like Malaysia where it’s become recognized as a national dish.

Sate is ubiquitous in almost every region of Indonesia and is equally popular at street food stalls as it is at warungs and more upscale Indonesian restaurants. It’s one of three Indonesian dishes that made it to CNN Travel’s reader’s poll on the World’s 50 Best Dishes.