How to Make Sate Lilit — Balinese Minced Satay Recipe

Sate lilit is one of the dishes guests search for after a Balinese cooking class in Ubud. Unlike skewer satay made from cubes, lilit means “to wrap”: you press a seasoned mince around a stalk of lemongrass and grill it over charcoal.

Ingredients (about 10 sticks)

• 300g minced chicken, fish, or tempeh for a vegetarian version
• 2 tbsp freshly grated coconut (or unsweetened desiccated, soaked)
• 3–4 tbsp cooked Base Genep / bumbu Bali
• 1 tsp palm sugar, salt to taste
• Kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
• 10 lemongrass stalks or bamboo sticks

Method

1. Make or warm your spice paste. In class we grind it on a cobek — see how to make bumbu Bali.
2. Mix mince, coconut, bumbu, palm sugar, salt and lime leaf until sticky. If it falls apart, it is too dry; add a spoon of coconut milk.
3. With wet hands, wrap a thin sausage of mix around each lemongrass stalk. Press firmly so it does not crack on the grill.
4. Grill over medium charcoal 3–4 minutes per side until fragrant and lightly charred. Do not rush — burning the lemongrass makes it bitter.
5. Serve with sambal matah and rice.

Tips from the village kitchen

The mix should cling without being pasty. Fish lilit is more delicate than chicken. For vegan class we use tempeh and extra coconut. You will make sate lilit hands-on in both morning and afternoon sessions at Tumang Bali.

Cook it with us in Ubud

Book a cooking class with market tour to buy the coconut and spices yourself, then grill lilit the same morning. Full dish list: what you cook in class.