I’ve tried lots and I mean LOTS of satay recipes, looking for one that tickled my taste buds but was also quick and easy to prepare. There are some that are easy, but they just don’t satisfy, others have not even a hint of authenticity and there are even more that are really tasty but involve spending too long in the kitchen after hunting for ingredients.

My search is over, and this Indonesian pork satay recipe is now my go-to for that achievable spicy, peanutty fix. With the sauce served in a separate bowl, chilli levels kept low and extra chilli on the table for the more adventurous, this is also a regular on our family dinner table, served family-style just like in the photo. This is a tasty and interesting meal for the grown-ups which doesn’t scare the kids who can pick and choose what to load their plates with, dipping a finger in the sauce if they wish and experimenting with different ingredients.

When you can, it’s well worth cooking the kebabs on the BBQ, as they really are sublime that way, otherwise they are still delicious when cooked in a very hot oven, or as the recipe suggests, under the grill (my grill doesn’t get that hot and I find it better to cook in a very hot oven instead).

You could try chicken, beef, tofu or vegetables instead of the pork.

This is a cracking recipe and really doesn’t need much in the way of tweaking. We find that half the sauce recipe is ample, perhaps because the children only eat a tiny amount of it, or maybe because I add more water to it than they do to get the consistency I like. Sometimes, I use onion instead of shallot if I don’t want to buy them specially and, when cooking for the kids, as I mentioned, I cut down the chilli to a minuscule amount and instead have plenty of chilli on the table to add when eating.

So, please add this to your meal plan. It comes tried, tested and recommended by me!