Sate Padang @ Tanjung Malim, Perak

I am one who uses the FourSquare application aggressively, mainly to post food tips in places that I have checked in and tried. As such, as I was in Jalan Ketoyong and was trying to check in to a place, I noticed a location that mentioned Sate Padang Stall in Kampung Ketoyong and was taken by surprise. Firstly, I am an Indonesian food fan and being one that had traveled to all nook and corner of Indonesia, I always look out for good Indonesian diners in Malaysia and was truly surprised to find this spot in my very own hometown, Tanjung Malim which I never knew about. Kampung Ketoyong is located at the very end of Jalan Ketoyong, just before it connects to the old trunk road heading to Ipoh and was a mere 3 minutes drive from where I was. Having arrived there, I was shocked to see an Indonesian style push cart situated under a large tree.

Burger Stall and the Sate Padang Stall

A Common Push Cart Found In Indonesia

Located Right In Front Of These Shops

The place was quiet with just a Burger Stall and this Sate Padang push cart located right in front of those shops shown above. Having parked my car, I walked up to this gentleman and struck a conversation with him in Indonesian and yes, he is from Medan and so this means that his preparation style does not use beef to make the rice floor broth but uses chicken instead. He works as a contract worker during the day and come nights, he runs this stall. An elderly gentleman and is truly a hardworking lad. Apparently he has been running this stall for over a year now. I wonder how I had missed this favourite of mine. He lives in Kampung Ketoyong and usually arrives here around 8 pm. Per day, he makes about 500 sticks and they would mostly be sold out by 10.30 pm. And that statement was evident by the crowd that were waiting for their orders this evening. I arrived at 8 pm sharp and there were easily 12 people ahead of me and since he is all by himself, it can take a while for him to prepare. Prices were cheap and they follow the typical Indonesian style; it's always the Sate with some Ketupat added and a combination of three different gravies. Not like the Malaysian Satay. And yes, he uses the real Ketupat and not those Nasi Impit. 

He Also Sells Bakso

Busy Preparing Order By Order

Customer's Patiently Waiting

The minimum order starts at RM 2.00 and this goes to unlimited. I am not sure the number of Sate's one would get for that price but came my turn, I had informed him that I would like to have 10 Chicken Sate's along with the Ketupat set and after having packed them for me, he mentioned that the price was RM 5.00 . That's really cheap! 10 sticks of Chicken Sate plus a full Ketupat. Of course the skewers were smaller than what you get here but once again, let me reiterate that this is Sate Padang and this is exactly how you would get it there. You could also mention how spicy you want the gravy to be. Please note that since this is a push cart, there's no place to sit and have your meal here and they are all solely meant for takeaways.

Packed and Brought Home

Lovely Sate Padang.... Messy As They Should Just Be

Comes With A Mix Of Three Different Gravies

Delicious

True Minangkabau Cuisine

The Sate's had been wonderfully packed in a banana leaf wrapping and secured with rubber bands to avoid spillage. Unpacked, it was such a lovely sight to look at. Messy, aromatic and the gravies mixed thoroughly.... just the way they should be. Assuming they had not been messy, then it's not authentic for sure. I had asked for extra chilies and he had done just that. For those who do not know, there are three varieties to Sate Padang and they are Sate Padang, Sate Pariamman and Sate Padang Panjang and all three differ in taste and looks. This was the Sate Padang variety. Some people use beef broth as one of the main gravies but as mentioned earlier, this gentleman assured me that he does not and so, it is suitable to even those non beef eaters. And being one who is very familiar with Indonesian cuisine myself, I can easily differentiate if the usual beef plus offal broth had been added. As mentioned earlier, those from Medan would usually use Chicken or Lamb instead of Beef as there are quite a number of Hindus in this North Sumatran Province. The overall dish is spicy by nature. The marination of those chicken cubes as well as the gravies are spicy and that chili paste that I had mentioned is an extra boost for spicy food lovers. The gravy's main characteristic is the thick yellow sauce made from rice flour mixed with chicken, turmeric, ginger, garlic, coriander, galangal root, cumin, curry powder and salt. And these ingredients give the gravy a very unique taste. If you love your Satay's to be sweet like the Malaysian one (or the one's found in some other Indonesian provinces), then this would not be suitable for you but if your're in for some super spicy Sate, then this is it. Coming back to this preparation, it was just perfect. The Chicken was perfect, the Ketupat was perfect and so were the gravies. As a package, it was just explosive and reminded me of the many months spent in West Sumatra. I would rate this preparation at 9.5/10 .Highly recommended!

If you love Sate Padang, then this would be a place that I would highly recommend. Good food, very reasonable prices and that gentleman was so soft spoken and nice to all his customers. Loved his attitude!

Address: Kampung Ketoyong, Off Jalan Ketoyong, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 2000 - 2230 Daily (Off Days Are Not Certain)