Nyonya Satay @ Suukee Satay, Kota Syahbandar, Malacca

 

Homeboy is back in town baby! I was back home for a week during the festive season and it was due time to get something I have not had for a very long while. We all know that Malaysia, and South east Asia in general is famous for satay. Grilled slabs of meat (ok maybe that is a bit exaggerated) that has been marinated in spices for hours and then grilled using a charcoal powered flame, and then finished off with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce. What is there to hate about this? I mean unless you are a vegetarian. But you get my point. 

So much history

Not many people do know this though, but satay comes in many varieties. The common satay is the Malay style satay which has a deeper marinade and is a bit sweeter. And since most Malays are Muslim, pork is not part of the menu. Which is where their Chinese cousins come in. Coming in the shape of the Nyonya style satay, the meat variety is a bit different, with pork included. The sauce is also a bit more fruity as pineapple is spiked into the lava-like concoction, which provides a more zesty and complex flavour. There are many shops in Malacca that ace in this style of satay. Some of which were also previewed here. But no one can do it better than Suukee.

Sheer beauty

Suukee satay has been around for decades and I remember going to their old shop when I was much younger. Now they have moved to a more upmarket part of the city area. Still, the quality stays the same. Typically my parents and I got ourselves the classic all star pork satay and a bit of pork intestines on a stick. Both were RM1.40 which is such an amazing deal. For clarity we got 15 pork sticks while we got 5 with regard to the intestines. To compliment this, we got ourselves a few serving of onions and cucumbers, which stood at RM1.20 a plate and we got 2, and 2 plates of ketupat rice packs which stood at RM1.80 each.

First of many great bites

And despite being years since I had this, the flavours were still etched in my mind and when I had the first bite, it was as though I did not miss a thing at all. The porky flavours were still evident. Fresh, juicy, slightly fatty and oh so glorious, each bite was some miracle about to happen. The sauce provided an extra depth. The peanuts provided a light crunch while the pineapple bits gave off a chunky texture and fruity experience. There were so many textural elements going on here, it was just so tasty. 

How can organ meat taste so good?

The intestines of course, had a different bite to them. They are more chewy but still good. The marinade, which I believe is loaded with turmeric, ginger and galangal, really eradicated any funky smell you get from organs. And what you are left with is something beautiful. And a dip of that amazing sauce just made everything better. So amazing in fact, simple stuff like the rice packs and cucumbers became something much more decadent once that sauce is slathered on them. What is this? some sort of evil black magic? I really need this recipe. Lucky for all of us, the sauce is refillable and automatically free of charge. But of course, I doubt that you can take a plastic bag and bring some home. Nonetheless, such an amazing condiment. 

To finish off the meal we got ourselves cendol which stood at RM7.50. The shaved ice covered with coconut milk, gula melaka syrup and cendol strands were pretty good, especially when you have to brace yourself under this tropical heat. it is not the best one I have tried, but it was quite enjoyable. The adzuki beans hidden inside that pile of ice made for a nice surprise inside. 

 

Until we meet again old friend. 

It was great to have something so fundamental to my upbringing to come back her with a roaring return like the porky treats I have here. If you are somehow in this historical town and you want to try one of its main food staples that has a local's seal of approval, there are not many places that can throw punches like this one. Fancy a go? The address is as follows:

36, Jln KPKS1, Kompleks Perniagaan Al-azim, 75200 Kota Syahbandar, Melaka, Malaysia