Malaysian satay stall a hit in Copenhagen

Delectable offering: Maslina at her stall at Reffen Street Food in Copenhagen.

— Photo taken from Satay Copenhagen/Facebook

KUALA LUMPUR: Any Malaysian craving for satay in Denmark can head to Reffen Street Food in Copenhagen where Sarawak-born Maslina Mahi has a container-concept stall selling the delicacy. 

Passion for cooking has landed Maslina, who initially accompanied her husband to Copenhagen for work, with an opportunity to sell satay in the Nordic nation. 

Last year, Maslina, who grew up in Kedah, became the only Malaysian granted a one-year contract to open the stall – called Satay Copenhagen – in Reffen Street Food, a tourist hotspot featuring over 40 food stalls.

“I chose satay because I think it’s a delectable offering with an ‘international soul’. The taste can be accepted by people of various races and ages around the world as the main ingredient is meat,” she said via WhatsApp.

“The most exciting moment was having customers from Malaysia who came to lend support to the only satay business available here. They are proud to find out about the small premises selling Malaysian food in the heart of Copenhagen,” she added. 

Maslina said she always provided testers to convince potential customers, some of whom might never have tasted Malaysian satay before. 

“From my observation, Asian customers favour the meat more while the Westerners, especially locals in Copenhagen, prefer the peanut sauce.

“I try my best to maintain the original ingredients of Malaysian satay, although some parts of the menu have to be localised. For instance, instead of ketupat, salad is served as a substitute at certain times,” she said.

Getting raw ingredients such as the various spices is not a problem as they are widely available in Denmark. 

“Raw meat is not hard to get as most supermarkets sell halal chicken. We buy beef from a halal slaughterhouse in Copenhagen,” she said. 

With Reffen open seven days a week, Maslina said demand for satay was good. 

“I can sell up to 300 sticks and the figure will increase to 600, especially during spring and summer from June until the end of July. 

“However, during winter from October to December, Reffen is only open on weekends. Then, I can sell about 150 and 200 sticks daily,” she said.

Maslina said her menu comes in three sets, comprising four, six and 10 satay sticks priced between 60 and 100 Danish kroner (RM37 to RM62), and with cucumber, ketupat and peanut sauce.

-bernama/thestar.