Welcome to the first instalment of Serving Up With... a new series where food becomes the entry point into deeper conversations about culture; where cooking is more than just what’s on the plate. With every episode, we’ll be passing the mic to some of our favourite culinary creatives as they dish out new perspectives on identity, politics, history and community, all through the lens of what (and how) we eat – reframing how we think, one unique recipe at a time...
Who better to kick off the first edition of Serving Up than Rahel Stephanie – the London-based chef, writer, DJ, cultural curator and, frankly, one of our favourite people to follow online. She’s perhaps best known as @linda_from_accounting, but you might also recognise her as the founder of SPOONS (@eatwithsp00ns), the Indonesian supper club platform that refuses to water anything down. Instead, SPOONS champions bold, regionally rooted dishes, from lempah kuning (a sour-spicy mackerel soup from Bangka, East Sumatra) to Rahel’s martini spin on es kopi susu (Indonesian coffee poured over ice with condensed milk), with recipes peppered throughout its Instagram account. Whether she’s cooking up a storm for her next supper club or launching a foodie zine diving into her native cuisine (PEDAS, if you’re interested) Rahel’s mission is clear: to centre the diasporic experience and reclaim how Southeast Asian food is experienced and understood in the UK – celebrating it in all its regional glory.
In her video for Service95 – Stop Calling Peanut Sauce ‘Satay’, That Literally Means Skewer – Rahel tackles one of the most widespread misconceptions about Indonesian food. “This is sate and there isn’t a peanut in sight,” she says, making it clear satay isn’t a sauce, but an entire category of dish. In fact, according to The Jakarta Post, there are at least 252 regional varieties across Indonesia – each one distinct, yet unified by a single element: the skewer. “The skewer is the common thread,” Rahel explains. “Everything else is regional storytelling.”
Somewhere along the way, that story got lost – and in Western contexts, ‘satay’ became synonymous with peanut sauce. In the process, hundreds of distinct culinary traditions were reduced to a single, peanut-flavoured shorthand. As Rahel points out, the problem runs deeper than sate: it reflects a broader homogenisation of Asian cuisine, where rich regional diversity is flattened into a handful of familiar, ‘safe’ dishes. But when we erase the details, we risk losing the culture itself. As she puts it, “It’s about keeping food histories alive.”
So consider this series your crash course in regional nuance – and a lesson in why every bite carries the weight of a story worth telling. Watch the video below, and scroll down for Rahel’s recipe for Sate Lilit (mincemeat wrapped around lemongrass and grilled), with not a peanut sauce in sight...
Rahel Stephanie’s Recipe For Sate Lilit (Balinese Minced Meat Skewers)
Ingredients
For The Bumbu (Spice Paste)
2 large shallots
2 medium garlic cloves
2 red chilies + 3 bird’s eye chilies
5 kaffir lime leaves
1 inch ginger (approx 5 cm)
2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed to the tender inner core
½ inch turmeric or 1 tsp ground turmeric
1 inch galangal
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp white pepper
4 candlenuts or macadamia nuts
1 tsp shrimp paste (terasi)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
For The Chicken Sate Lilit
1 tbsp prepared spice paste
150g ground chicken
2 tbsp coconut milk
1 tbsp crispy fried shallots
2 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped (remove central stem)
1 tsp salt
½ tbsp melted palm sugar or coconut sugar
Method
1. Blend the spice paste ingredients (except the lime leaves) into a smooth paste. Then, sauté the paste in coconut oil over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes until fragrant.
2. Mix the ground chicken with the spice paste, lime leaves, fried shallots, salt, sugar and coconut milk until well combined.
3. Shape the mixture onto skewers (I’ve used lemongrass stalks here). If it’s not sticking together, add plain flour, one tablespoon at a time, till it’s sticky enough to mold onto the skewers.
4. Grill the skewers in a pan or over a BBQ with a bit of coconut oil until browned on all sides.
5. Plate the skewers with some green bean urap for a fresh side (see recipe below). You can also serve with steamed rice or as part of a larger spread.
Recipe For The Green Bean Urap
Ingredients
1 handful green beans, chopped into ½-inch pieces
1 tbsp spice paste (that you prepared for the sate lilit)
1 tsp salt
50-100ml water
1 tbsp crispy fried shallots
1 tbsp grated toasted coconut (optional)
2 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped (remove central stem)
Juice of ½ lime
Method
1. Sauté the green beans in a little oil for 3-5 minutes, until just tender.
2. Add the spice paste, a splash of water and salt, and heat through.
3. Stir in the fried shallots, grated coconut, and lime leaves.
4. Finish with a squeeze of lime juice.
