Keelung Satay Curry

Satay curry is a stir-fry technique unique to Keelung, combining Chaoshan satay paste with Indian-style curry powder to coat beef and noodles in a richly layered, savory-spicy sauce found nowhere else in Taiwan. Walking along Fudan Road from the west bank of Keelung Harbor, the aroma reaches you before the restaurant does — toasted satay mingling with spicy curry rising from the wok at Guangdong Shantou Beef Restaurant, where curry powder, satay paste, and beef tumble together over a roaring flame.

Satay curry originated in Keelung's Zhongshan District near Liulongtou. Guangdong Shantou Beef Restaurant, founded in the 1950s by Chaoshan immigrant Lin Guang-sheng, combined his family's satay paste with curry powder — then commonly available in post-war Taiwan — to invent this fusion stir-fry in the 1960s. The restaurant is now run by the third generation, Lin Qi-chang, with a history of nearly 70 years.

What is satay curry?

Satay curry is a stir-fry technique unique to Keelung, combining Chaoshan satay paste with Indian-style curry powder in the same wok. Satay is a sauce simmered from flat fish, dried shrimp, peanuts, garlic, and chili — savory and redolent of the sea. Curry powder adds heat and color. The two combined produce a sauce base that is salty, sweet, spicy, and fragrant, with unusually layered complexity. It is most commonly used in satay curry beef stir-fried noodles, satay curry rice, and satay curry beef soup. Noodles are typically oil noodles or yi mian; beef is sliced thin and flash-cooked to stay tender. The dish is finished with a handful of bean sprouts, garlic chives, or onion, and high wok hei is the key.

Why did this appear in Keelung? After World War II, Chaoshan immigrants arrived in Keelung via shipping routes and settled on the western bank of Keelung Harbor, bringing their satay paste and satay beef hot-pot culture into this port city. By then, Western-style curry rice had already entered Taiwan in the late Japanese colonial period. Keelung's Chaoshan cooks experimentally combined two different immigrant condiments in one wok — the salty savoriness and the warm spice turned out to complement each other perfectly, producing a dish unique to Keelung. Guangdong Shantou Beef Restaurant on Fudan Road in Zhongshan District has been run by three generations for nearly 80 years, with roughly 1,790 Google reviews accumulated — the living encyclopedia of this dish. A Lu Satay Curry is also listed as a long-standing local stall alongside it.

How to eat it like a local

Local knowledge

Information compiled from the Keelung City Government Department of Tourism and City Marketing and large-volume public reviews, with sponsored content filtered out. Photos to be replaced with channel-exclusive material after Dio's on-site shoot.