Peanut Sauce

Peanut sauce is common to Thai, Indian, Chinese and Malaysian cuisines as a spicy and salty dip. This sauce is commonly used in Satay , which is made up of chunks of pork, chicken, beef or fish, which are skewered and grilled. Peanut sauce can also be used in stir fries,  eaten as a vegetable dip or used for topping the noodles. The sauce is also used in some Middle Eastern and Dutch dishes.

Preparation Overview
Groundnut is the main ingredient in this sauce, but sometimes it is replaced with peanut butter. This sauce is prepared in numerous ways. A typical peanut sauce is packed with the goodness of roasted peanuts, which are cooked with soy sauce, coconut milk, garlic, galangal, and spices. Sometimes the sauce is flavored with sugar, chili peppers, lemon, milk, lemon grass and fried onions.  

Culinary Usage of Peanut Sauce

Indonesians use this sauce to cook many dishes. They use it regularly in gado –gado, satay, ketopark, karedok, and pecel. This sauce is used as a condiment for improving flavors of vegetables and meats. Sometimes it is used as an ingredient in another dipping sauce called sambal kacang (a combination of fried peanuts and ground chili) or ketan.

The Chinese pour this sauce over the meats before grilling. It is usually used in the preparation of Dan dan noodles and hot pot.

Singaporeans eat this sauce with freshly cooked rice and satay.

The sauce was introduced in Netherlands during the era of colonization. The Dutch people team this sauce with their French fries or barbecue. Mayonnaise and peanut sauce is a popular combination in many of the Dutch fast food outlets. They also eat the sauce with bread, baguette, mashed potatoes and cucumber. It is also used in the preparation of a snack called Satekroket, which is a croquette based dish of Indonesian origin.

Peanut Sauce Recipe Variations

• Indonesian Peanut Sauce – A delicate balance between tastes is attained by using ingredients like fried peanuts, garlic, gula jawan, shallots, tamarind, ginger, salt, lemon grass, pepper, chili, and sweet soy sauce. The Indonesians believe that a sauce tastes good only and only if it holds a medium texture. This means a sauce should neither be watery nor be thick.

• Bumbu Kacang – This Thai sauce has Indonesian origins. It is prepared using ingredients like peanut butter, water, soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, rice vinegar, hoisin sauce, dark brown sugar, sesame oil, chili, and hot water. The sauce is served after garnishing with cucumber, smashed peanuts, green lettuce or onion slices. Thai version of the peanut sauce is sweeter than its Indonesian counterpart.

• Singaporean Satay Sauce – This sauce is served over freshly cooked noodles and it is prepared using unsalted roasted peanuts, shallots, garlic cloves, coconut milk, peanut  butter, peanut oil, sugar, Chinese chili sauce, ground spices like cumin, coriander and turmeric. The sauce can be thinned by the addition of little water or oil.

• Malaysian Satay Sauce – This sauce is usually used as a condiment in grilled meats. Peanut sauce is prepared using dry roasted peanuts, water, sweet soy sauce, sugar, salt, oil, and tamarind pulp. The peanuts are crushed and cooked in the spicy paste while making the sauce. The spicy paste is prepared by processing dried chilies, garlic cloves, shallots, lemon grass, ginger, and coriander. The satay tastes best when served at room temperature.

• Vietnamese Satay Sauce – The Vietnamese satay sauce is said to be more flavorsome than its other South Asian counterparts. It is prepared using peanut oil, red Asian shallots, garlic, freshly chopped ginger, Bird’s eye chilies, peanut butter, coconut milk, soy sauce, grated palm sugar, fish sauce, kaffir lime leaf, and lime juice. This sauce is usually served with barbecued chicken or satay chicken.

• Peanut Soy Sauce – It is considered perfect for stir fries or is best to be served as a dipping sauce for shrimp, vegetables, and tofu. It is prepared using peanut butter, soy sauce, vegetable stock, lime juice, ginger, garlic cloves, sesame oil, maple syrup or honey, chili garlic sauce or red pepper flakes. The ingredients are whisked together and tossed with cooked vegetables, noodles, tofu or rice depending on the taste preferences of eaters.

• Dutch West Indian Peanut Sauce – This sauce is teamed with Dutch West Indian chicken kebabs or Boka Dushi. It is prepared using fat –free chicken broth, creamy peanut butter, tomato, minced green onions, fresh cilantro, fish sauce, fresh lime juice, grated peeled fresh ginger, minced seeded Thai chilies, honey and garlic cloves. The sauce tastes best when served at room temperature.

Peanut Sauce Nutrition

Peanut sauce not only imparts a distinct flavor to tofu, meat or vegetables but it is also nutritious. Peanuts are rich source of protein, which makes them part of vegetarian diet and an excellent energy source too. Magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, copper and zinc are some of the trace minerals found in peanuts. The peanut is good source of niacin and it plays a very effective role in boosting the HDL levels in the body. The trace minerals found in peanuts also aid in nourishing the blood capillaries found in heart thereby boosting the cardiovascular health. Groundnuts are enriched with bioflavonoids resveratrol which inhibits the formation of arterial plaques.
 

A peanut sauce may be high in calories and fats, but half of the fats in peanuts are from monounsaturated fats, and one third from polyunsaturated fat with only one –fifth of the fat coming from saturated fats. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can do wonders for health.