bulayak satay — Lombok Island, Indonesia

Bulayak satay pairs two elements eaten together on Lombok Island: bulayak, a small cake of rice steamed inside a coiled young coconut leaf, and satay, skewers of grilled meat coated in a spiced sauce. Together they form a compact meal sold from street carts and market stalls. The pairing is reported as a specialty of Lombok, the island east of Bali, where bulayak is prepared as a substitute for plain steamed rice and satay skewers are grilled over charcoal at roadside stands. To prepare it, rice is packed into a young coconut leaf woven into a tight spiral coil and steamed until firm, then cooled and unwrapped at the table. Separately, cubes of chicken or beef are threaded onto skewers, brushed with a marinade of shallot, garlic, chilli and turmeric, and grilled over charcoal, basting repeatedly. The skewers are served together with the rice coils and a sauce of ground peanuts cooked with chilli and palm sugar, into which the bulayak and meat are dipped. What distinguishes this pairing from other satay dishes of the archipelago is the coconut-leaf-wrapped rice served alongside it in place of plain rice, together with the particular blend used in its dipping sauce, which is noted for pairing peanut with chilli in proportions that vary from one stall to another.