Indonesian Beef and Sweet Soy Sate

Sate street food stalls are ubiquitous in Jakarta. We particularly loved the beef sate manis at Soto Tangkar Kerajinan 46, where cooks use the same sweet-and-savory seasoning paste to flavor their sate and their soup. A blender does most of the work in this recipe, so don’t be put off by the number of ingredients. Galangal resembles and is related to ginger, but its taste is piney and peppery, without ginger’s warmth. If you can’t find it, double the amount of lemon grass. Intensely fragrant makrut lime leaves may require a trip to the Asian market; simply leave them out if you can’t find them. Lastly, kecap manis, or Indonesian sweet soy sauce, is a foundational ingredient. If you can’t get it, you can approximate the flavor by whisking together ¼ cup each soy sauce, molasses and light brown sugar. This makes enough to use in the recipe and at the table. Serve with jasmine rice and lime wedges.