Thai treat: Satay sauce

Since making the lime and coconut drizzle cake, I have been pondering the fate of the leftover coconut milk sitting expectantly in my fridge. A fragrant Thai curry or a milky rice pudding? A fiery soup or a cooling ice cream? Coconut milk works equally well in sweet and savoury dishes so I thought I would use the rest to cook something savoury. Last night, my brother put an end to my coconut procrastinating by declaring that we were making peanut satay sauce.

This sauce will not disappoint – it is lush and creamy, balanced with zing from the lime and fresh ginger, and warmth from the chili. We had envisaged delicately dipping our grilled chicken skewers into the sauce but it was so tasty and we made such a ridiculous quantity for the two of us that we ended up pouring it with abandon all over our chicken and steamed rice. Yes, I was a little too full by the end but I was also very happy and felt like I had been cocooned in a warm nutty duvet.

This is where lucky peanuts go when they die!

We ate chicken skewers with this sauce but you could use prawns, beef, tofu, your fingers…

Peanut satay sauce

Serves 4 as a main

Ingredients:

– 1 clove garlic
– 1/2 red onion, sliced
– 1 thumb fresh ginger
– 1/2 red chili, deseeded
– 125ml chicken stock*
– 200g unsalted peanuts
– 1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
– 250ml coconut milk
– 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce**
– 1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
– 1 tablespoon fish sauce*
– juice 1/2 lime

*You can use veggie instead of chicken stock and add a dash more soy sauce (ideally light soy sauce) instead of fish sauce if you’re making this veggie / vegan.

**Make sure it’s gluten-free soy sauce if you’re making this GF!

Method:

Place the garlic, onion, ginger, chili and stock into a food processor and blitz until everything is finely chopped. Place on a low heat and simmer gently for a few minutes to soften and release the flavours.

Whilst the mixture simmers, blitz the rest of the ingredients to form a paste. Add to the pan and stir until all the ingredients are incorporated and the sauce is warmed through.

Easy peasy!