Kitchen terms: Saute and Sate

These two words when used or seen on recipes can be quite confusing. Many folks think they mean the same thing. This is where the recipe goes awry. Saute actually means to cook something quickly in a small amount of oil. Sauteing some stir fry veggies for example. I love sauteing my noodles in some peanut oil for my fave Thai dish. Now Sate is actually referring to an Indonesian snack food per se. It consists of small marinated pieces of meat or poultry threaded on skewers broiled or grilled. Most likely served with a peanut sauce. After this clarification, these two words have nothing in common as we can see.

Saute/ Sauteed/ Sauteing

Sate