One Blender Peanut Satay Sauce

We are big fans of the old Satay Sauce in this house. Being from Singapore, I grew up with the real thing. Road side satay smoking on hot coals, the delectable scent is unmistakable! So when I came to New Zealand and ate these so called pre-marinated satay kebabs which were really just glorified peanut butter and soy sauce, it was a bit of a shock to the system. Thankfully my mum introduced me to Yeo's Satay Sauce, a Singaporean made sauce which is the closest to authentic Satay Sauce as I've been able to find in a jar. Problem. It is like $5.79 a jar at Pak n Save!

I got it in my head the other day I needed charred steak with satay sauce so I looked up a few recipes but in the end just ended up slightly adapting a recipe I found from The Spruce . So if you want the original recipe feel free to check them out. 

Like all good Thai sauces the sauce has to be a perfect balance of  the 4 S's Sweet, Spicy, Sour and Salty. However all our palette's are different so what may be perfect for me may not be for you. So use this recipe as a guide and then add little by little to adjust until you find your perfect balance. 

One Blender Peanut Satay Sauce

1 cup of dry roasted  unsalted peanuts* 

1/3 cup water

3 cloves of garlic chopped
2T fish sauce 

1/2 tsp Ketchup Manis (Sweet Dark Soy) 

2 tsp Sesame Oil 

50g Palm Sugar grated 

1 thumb size seedless Tamarind 

1 green chilli 

1/2 can of coconut cream 

1. Roast peanuts off in the oven until golden**

2. Place all the ingredients in the blender and blitz until you reach your desired consistency. I prefer it smooth than chunky 

3. Find your perfect balance

Sweeter- More Palm Sugar

Spicier- More Chilli or dried chilli flakes 

Sourer- More Tamarind

Saltier- More Fish Sauce 

*I bought a bag for skinless, blanched peanuts for about $3. This should last me about three portions of the Sauce I think

** I just put them in the oven while my cupcakes were baking to save power 

The thing I love about this recipe is that it is deliciously authentic, easy to make but also versatile. You can use it as a dipping sauce, marinade, curry base. I used half this portion to top over charred rump steak (which I overcooked) so the sauce really saved it! The other half I cooked up with thinly sliced rump on a a low heat till all the liquid had evaporated and it just left a satay type crust on the meat. This then went a satay beef and caramelized onion pizza, which was dinner tonight! One rump steak ($9) and one portion of sauce (approx $3) = 2 dinners! Will be sharing the pizza recipe tomorrow!