Peanut Sauce

A few weeks ago, my husband and I bought a huge bag of plain, in-shell peanuts to have around to give our hamsters (they love munching through the shells) and for us to snack on. There are so many, and I decided to hunt around for interesting recipes to use them. I found many recipes for Thai- and Chinese-style peanut sauces. It sounded so simple, so I decided to give it a whirl.


Many peanut sauce recipes call for peanut butter. Instead, I shelled a bowlful of the peanuts and ground them to a powder in my food processor. Thai-style recipes for this sauce seemed to call for fish sauce and often lime juice, with a base of cocunut milk. The Chinese-style recipes usually called for fewer ingredients, and more soy sauce. There were many variations, though. True to my nature, I didn't follow an exact recipe, but took some ideas from a few recipes and created my own.

I sauteed some chopped green onion in a little vegetable oil, then added some flour and water to act as the liquid base. The pulverized peanuts blended in easily. I added a few spoonfuls of soy sauce, a healthy dose of garlic powder, and about a tablespoon of tikka masala paste for some heat and flavor. I also added about a tablespoon of honey.

The sauce came out thick and creamy. I tossed it with vermicelli, and ate it with veggie chicken strips (Morningstar Farms Chik'n Strips, one of my favorite veggie meats). The peanuty flavor of the sauce wasn't overpowering, and acted as a nice base for the tikka masala. I could have stood a bit more heat, so next time i'll add some spicy chiles.

This peanut sauce was one of the quickest meals I have ever made. Shelling the peanuts was the most time-consuming part of the process; making the actual sauce took very little effort, and also, very few ingredients. As a bonus, it is a very inexpensive meal to make, and yet, I believe, could hold it's own in a formal dinner. I will definitely be making this again.