Sate Sauce substitute

Best substitute

Homemade Lemongrass Chilli Oil

Use the same amount as the sate sauce you are replacing

Best for bun bo Hue

Close match

Minced lemongrass, garlic and shallot softened slowly in neutral oil, then chilli flakes and a spoonful of paprika stirred in off the heat. Ten minutes and it is closer to real sa te than any substitute, brighter and more aromatic than jarred versions because the lemongrass has not been sitting in oil for a year. Without dried shrimp it is a shade less savoury, which a teaspoon of fish sauce fixes.

Other sate sauce substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Chilli Garlic Sauce or Sambal Oelek, Plus Oil and Lemongrass
Close match
Use the same amount thinned with 1 tbsp oil and 1 tsp minced lemongrass per 2 tbsp
The best fridge-door fix.
What changes
Sambal oelek brings clean chilli heat and the right rough texture but it is water-based and slightly sour, so on its own a broth made with it comes out sharper and without the red oil slick. The added oil restores the slick and the lemongrass supplies the aroma that is doing the real work.
Best for
bun bo Hue, noodle soups, quick fixes with pantry staples
Warm the oil with the lemongrass for a minute before stirring in the sambal, so the lemongrass actually releases into the fat rather than sitting there raw and woody.
3Chilli Crisp With Grated Lemongrass Stirred In
Different taste
Use the same amount plus 1 tsp finely grated lemongrass per 2 tbsp
Already the right format, oil plus chilli plus crunchy aromatics, so it slots straight in.
What changes
Chilli crisp is toastier and more Sichuan in character, often with fermented soy or Sichuan pepper, so the broth tastes deeper and slightly numbing rather than bright and citrusy. The added lemongrass pulls it back toward Vietnam surprisingly well.
Best for
bun bo Hue, table condiment, noodles and rice bowls, when you want no cooking at all
Choose a plainer chilli crisp without heavy Sichuan peppercorn if you can, since the tingling numbness is the one element that reads as clearly wrong in a Vietnamese broth.
4Chinese Shacha Sauce (Sa Cha)
Different taste
3:4
The close relative that shares the name, and worth knowing about.
What changes
Shacha is built on dried shrimp, brill fish and garlic in oil, so it nails the savoury dried-seafood depth of sa te better than anything else here. What it lacks is lemongrass and most of the heat, and it is much more strongly fishy, so use a little less and add chilli flakes and lemongrass separately.
Best for
savoury depth in broths, hot pot dipping sauces, stir-fries
Add half a teaspoon of chilli flakes and a teaspoon of minced lemongrass per tablespoon of shacha to bring it into Vietnamese territory. Cut back the fish sauce elsewhere in the recipe, since shacha is already very savoury.
5Gochujang, Loosened With Oil
Taste and texture differ
1:2, use half as much, thinned with oil
A workable emergency and a clear compromise.
What changes
Gochujang is thick, sweet and fermented, so it gives colour and moderate heat but it sweetens the broth and clouds it rather than floating as oil on top. A bun bo Hue made with gochujang tastes rounder and sweeter and distinctly Korean. Use half as much as the recipe says and add lemongrass.
Best for
colour and moderate heat, when it is the only chilli paste in the house
Whisk it with a tablespoon of hot oil in a small bowl before it goes into the pot, or it sinks and sits on the bottom in a lump.
6Sriracha, With Honest Expectations
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount for heat only
The most common substitution and the weakest one, so it is worth being clear.
What changes
Sriracha gives heat and garlic and that is all. It is vinegary, sweet and smooth, with no lemongrass, no dried shrimp, no chilli flakes and no red oil, so a broth seasoned with it tastes sharp and thin where sa te would have made it aromatic and rich. Perfectly fine as table heat, not a stand-in for the paste.
Best for
adding heat at the table, dipping, absolute last resort
If sriracha is genuinely all you have, warm a tablespoon of oil with a teaspoon of chilli flakes and a teaspoon of minced lemongrass and stir the sriracha into that. Even that small step makes a real difference.

What is Sate Sauce?

Sate Sauce is Vietnamese sate, written sa te and sold as sate tom or lemongrass chili oil, is a chunky red chilli paste suspended in oil, built on lemongrass, garlic, shallots and dried chilli and usually with dried shrimp in it.

Cooking tips

Sa te is added two ways and they are not interchangeable. A spoonful goes into the pot near the end of cooking to colour and perfume the broth, and a jar goes on the table so people can add more heat. If you only do the second, the broth will never look or smell right.
Lemongrass has to be minced very fine or grated, not just bruised, if you want it to release into oil in a few minutes. Use only the pale bottom third of the stalk and discard the woody green top.
Bloom chilli flakes off the heat or at very low temperature. Oil hot enough to fry them turns them bitter and dulls the red, which is the usual reason a homemade batch looks brown instead of scarlet.
A spoon of sweet paprika does the colouring work without adding heat, which is how you get a deep red broth without making it inedible for anyone at the table.
Jarred sa te separates in the fridge with the oil on top. Stir it from the bottom every time, because the oil alone gives colour with very little heat and the sediment alone is fierce.

Frequently asked questions

Is sate sauce the same as peanut satay sauce?

No, and this is the most important thing to know. Indonesian and Thai satay sauce is a sweet peanut dipping sauce. Vietnamese sa te is a chunky lemongrass and chilli oil with no peanuts in it at all, used to add heat, aroma and red colour to soups like bun bo Hue. If a Vietnamese recipe calls for sate, peanut sauce is not a substitute for it in any sense.

Can I leave sate out of bun bo Hue?

You can, and the soup will still taste good, but it will not taste like bun bo Hue. The sa te is responsible for the heat, the red colour and a lot of the lemongrass aroma that distinguishes this soup from pho. If you skip it, at minimum bloom a tablespoon of chilli flakes and some minced lemongrass in oil and stir that in, which takes five minutes and recovers most of the character.

What is the difference between sate and sambal or sriracha?

All three are chilli condiments and they are not interchangeable. Sambal oelek is plain ground fresh chilli with salt and a little vinegar, water-based and sour. Sriracha is a smooth sweet vinegared garlic chilli sauce. Sa te is oil-based with dried chilli, lemongrass, shallot, garlic and usually dried shrimp, so it brings aroma, savouriness and a red oil slick that neither of the others has.

Does sate sauce contain shellfish?

Most jarred Vietnamese sa te does, because dried shrimp is a standard ingredient and some versions add shrimp paste too. Always read the label if there is a shellfish allergy at the table. Making it yourself is the reliable way to avoid it, and a teaspoon of soy sauce or a little more garlic replaces the savoury depth the shrimp would have provided.

How hot is Vietnamese sate?

Moderately hot rather than punishing, and much of the jar is oil, so it goes further than it looks. Start with a teaspoon per bowl of soup and let people add more. Homemade is easy to dial down: use half the chilli flakes and make up the colour with sweet paprika, which looks identical and adds no heat.

Related substitutes

More sauces & condiments substitutes

Sate Sauce substitute

Other sate sauce substitutes

2Chilli Garlic Sauce or Sambal Oelek, Plus Oil and Lemongrass

3Chilli Crisp With Grated Lemongrass Stirred In

4Chinese Shacha Sauce (Sa Cha)

5Gochujang, Loosened With Oil

6Sriracha, With Honest Expectations