There are peanut sauces/ satay sauces which you get in a bottle which make you cringe and squirm with all the citric acid in there..in a pinch you could use it as an abrasive cleaner for your pots or pans..
Not that the one I’m telling you about will actually make you want to sing in joy but I had to use a catchy title or you might go away and look at that recipe from the Net with brilliant photos .
You won’t get that here.. what you will is something which is tried and tested and tasted .. and something which is truly ” Enak Sakali”( tasty in Bahasa). I learnt how to make this from my Padawan Chef Harryson Tobing. Harryson now is culinary Jedi master in the usa.
I had seen a different version which was served in our Thai restaurant at The Oberoi which was good too but the Indo version with its Saus (not misspelt)ABC- kecap Manis .was something else.. a sweet molasses like sauce which makes it even more special.
I have deviated from the original I learnt only to simplify it because I like the Kiss( keep it simple,stupid) principle quite a lot.
- Peanuts balanced and deep fried ..or make it simpler and use a very good quality crunchy peanut butter – how much ..let’s say about 250 g
- Red chilli fresh preferred – 2-3 big ones not very hot
- Garlic cloves- 2-3 large ones
- Dessicated coconut- 10 g/ 1 T approx
- ABC kecap Manis / sweet soy sauce- 1 T or a bit more it’s hard to say depends on how sweet you want the sauce to be and how dark.. don’t substitute unless you just can’t get it but I think this is the best..
- Coconut cream- 400 ml
- Brown sugar or Gula Melaka- again depends on how sweet you want it to be..I don’t like it too sweet.
- Kaffir lime leaves/ Daun Limau/Bai makrut – 1-2 torn
- Oil – quite a lot..nearly 50-60 ml.. I never said this sauce will make you slim, I said sing..
So you grind the garlic and the red chilli together .heat up the oil and add in the chilli garlic mix till gets a nice colour then add in the coconut and peanut and get ready to not leave the stove side because if you do it’s going to burn horribly and can’t get rescued..
Which is also one of the reasons to add in all of that oil..when you see the oil start to separate out from the mix then add the kecap Manis and coconut cream( when you buy this look for the one with maximum coco content ) or use the Maggi Coco milk powder .
also add in the Daun Limau / what is that…the lime leaves which smell like summer refreshed ..and can’t be substituted with anything else.
Some people also like to add some tamarind extract inside their peanut sauce..I’m not one of those people’s!! Having said that if that’s what floats your boat go for it..
Serve this pot of delicious NESS with satay or grilled fish or tofu or with crackers if you like.. you will thank me and throw away that yucky tacky stuff from the bottle in the closest bombing site where it will get obliterated never to bother decent hoomans again.
The photo above shows chilli grown in my garden and the ABC which didn’t ..don’t be tempted to save money and buy the 6 kg plastic tub..this is better..keeps better and can be recycled better.