A flavourful satay beef sandwiched between fluffy milk bread. This simple sandwich is made from scratch. This popular Chinese meat sandwich is served as a meal, afternoon tea time snack or breakfast at Hong Kong style cafés. It's so delicious!
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My satay beef sandwich features is a fluffy milk bread sandwich filled with savory, nutty, tender beef packed with satay flavors! It originates from Hong Kong.
This sandwich served at many Hong Kong style cafe's, also known as "cha-chang-teng" in Cantonese and best enjoyed with HK style milk tea.
These HK style cafés are known to serve Asian-style Western classic dishes because Hong Kong was once colonized by Britain.
Since this sandwich is affordable and filling, it's the perfect handheld food if you're looking for something quick for on-the-go snacking or commuting.
This Cantonese satay beef sandwich recipe is my favorite HK style café dish because the savory meat compliments the fluffy bread well. If you want to add veggies, feel free to add lettuce.
I also love making this sandwich especially if I have leftover satay beef that I made the night before!
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Flank Steak: the best tender cut for satay beef because it has little muscle fibers. Or substitute with sirloin tip steak, tri-tip steak, hanger steak, or top round steak.
- Milk Bread: I highly recommend Asian-style milk bread sold at many Asian bakeries or Asian grocery stores. Or substitute with regular white bread.
- Butter: unsalted or salted butter both work.
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. Avoid olive oil that has a low smoke point.
Beef Marinade
- Baking Soda: the secret ingredient that Chinese restaurants use to make their beef extra tender, so don't skip it!
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.
- Cornstarch or potato starch: the second secret ingredient in Chinese cuisine to tenderize meat.
- Garlic Powder
- Cold water: to add more moisture to the beef.
Homemade Satay Sauce
- Ginger Powder: or substitute with fresh ginger but make sure to grate it.
- Smooth Peanut Butter: avoid using crunchy peanut butter.
- Regular soy sauce
- Lemongrass: fresh or frozen lemongrass works fine. Only use the white parts of the lemongrass and avoid using the hard green parts.
- Brown sugar: light or dark brown sugar both work.
- Shallot
- Garlic
- Sesame oil
- Red chili flakes: omit if you can't tolerate spice
Note: Your Asian grocery store will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients.
Expert Tips
- Freeze your flank steak fully exposed to the freezer air for 30-45 minutes ahead of time and you will be able to slice it thinly.
- Marinate beef overnight for ultra tender beef with beef marinade ingredients only.
- Use a high-power blender or food processor to blending your satay ingredients into a smooth paste to make the process faster.
- Generously butter that bread! It’s important you do or the residual juices from the satay beef will soak your bread.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make satay beef sandwich:
- Thinly slice flank steak against the grain on an angle into ¼-inch thick pieces. Transfer sliced beef to a large mixing bowl. Tip: if you freeze the steak for 30-45 minutes exposed, this will allow you to slice the steak very thinly.
- Mix marinade ingredients into the sliced beef with tongs or clean hands and pack the beef into a ball so the marinade is well absorbed. Set aside as you work on the other ingredients.
- Into a blender or food processor, add the ingredients for the satay sauce and blend on high speed until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large pan on medium heat. Fry marinated beef until the edges are brown and the meat is 50-60% cooked, about 5 minutes.
- Then pour in the satay sauce and toss with the beef. Cook the beef through and when most of the liquids in the pan have evaporated, remove off heat to cool down.
- Evenly spread butter on all slices of bread from edge to edge.
- Add half of the satay beef to one slice and close the sandwich with the remaining slice of buttered bread. Repeat this process for the remaining sandwich. Enjoy!
Storage
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I recommend wrapping each sandwich with plastic wrap. To reheat: microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot.
- Freezer friendly? I don't recommend freezing these sandwiches contain more moisture than others and the moisture will make the bread soggy.
Pairing Suggestions
Satay beef sandwiches serve well with other Hong Kong style café dishes like:
- Hong Kong Ham Egg Sandwich
- Satay Beef Noodle Soup
- Cantonese Cream Corn Fish
- or cooked vegetables like bok choy, spicy garlic bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, garlic green beans or stir fried snow pea leaves.
FAQ
Satay beef sandwiches can be made up to 4 days in advance in the fridge. I recommend wrapping them with plastic before storing into airtight containers. But please note the bread will naturally become soggy since the satay beef is coated in sauce. So I actually recommend cooking the beef in advance and then on the day of serving, assembling the sandwiches.
Yes, you can substitute with store bought satay sauce to make things easier.
📖 Recipe
Easy Hong Kong Satay Beef Sandwich
Ingredients
- 0.55 lbs flank steak
- 4 slices milk bread or white bread
- 4 tablespoon butter for the bread
- ½ teaspoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Beef marinade:
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon regular soy sauce
- ¾ teaspoon cornstarch or potato starch
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon water cold
Homemade Satay Sauce:
- ¼ teaspoon ginger powder or fresh ginger
- 1 ½ tablespoon peanut butter smooth kind
- 1 ½ tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoon brown sugar light or dark brown sugar both work
- 1 tablespoon lemongrass only use the white parts
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ small shallot or 2 tablespoon white onion
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes optional
Instructions
- Thinly slice flank steak against the grain on an angle into ¼-inch thick pieces. Transfer sliced beef to a large mixing bowl. Tip: if you freeze the steak for 30-45 minutes exposed, this will allow you to slice the steak very thinly.
- Mix marinade ingredients into the sliced beef with tongs or clean hands and pack the beef into a ball so the marinade is well absorbed. Set aside as you work on the other ingredients.
- Into a blender or food processor, add the ingredients for the satay sauce and blend on high speed until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large pan on medium heat. Fry marinated beef until the edges are brown and the meat is 50-60% cooked, about 5 minutes.
- Then pour in the satay sauce and toss with the beef. Cook the beef through and when most of the liquids in the pan have evaporated, remove off heat to cool down.
- Evenly spread butter on all slices of bread from edge to edge.
- Add half of the satay beef to one slice and close the sandwich with the remaining slice of buttered bread. Repeat this process for the remaining sandwich. Enjoy!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
That was a great tip for how long to marinate the beef... it really makes such a big difference!
Katherine | Love In My Oven
I wasn't lying when I said your recipes always make me hungry! This one is no exception!! I'm sure its so flavorful!!