Peanut sauce (saté) – basic recipe

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 80 g peanuts, unsalted, unroasted
• 2 tbsp curry paste, red
• 600 ml coconut milk
• 20 g brown sugar
• 2 tbsp fish sauce, Nam Pla (Thai)
• Vegetables, cut as desired
• 500 g meat, diced as desired
• 250 g rice
• possibly salt and pepper
• possibly sauce thickener

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

typical Thai sauce, goes well with almost any vegetable, meat, etc.

Roast the peanuts in a dry pan over medium heat until golden brown. Turn them frequently, otherwise they’ll burn! Then crush the peanuts in a mortar and pestle. Heat 300 ml of the coconut milk in a larger pot and stir in the curry paste. Using a little less paste makes the sauce milder. After about 3 minutes, add the remaining coconut milk, sprinkle in the sugar and crushed peanuts, and add the fish sauce. Let everything simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. By the way: Coconut milk doesn’t burn as quickly as cow’s milk. Now you can add chopped vegetables (additional cooking time: about 3-6 minutes, potatoes a little longer) or diced meat (additional cooking time: about 6-10 minutes, depending on the type), as desired. If you add both to the sauce, add the meat to the pot first and then the vegetables after a few minutes. If the sauce is too runny, a commercially available sauce thickener will (almost) neutralize the flavor. If you’re adding a lot of vegetables and meat, you can dilute it with more coconut milk. If you like it saltier, season with salt (and possibly pepper). Serve with the cooked rice.