Peanut Sauce

(vegan)

I've been making variations of this sauce for years and love it on salad or steamed veges or as a dipping sauces for summer rolls or even vege sticks. It's based on the ubiquitous peanut sauce of Sydney Thai restaurants. Innocently ignorant I rocked up in Thailand in 2004, with visions of bathing in the stuff...only to find that it is NOT Thai at all. More Indonesian really. Or an invention of Westernised 'Asian' food.

Who cares? It's fucking good -

Ingredients:
a splash of sesame oil
1 chilli, finely chopped (more or less according to taste)
2 cm cubed nob of fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic
1 onion (optional)
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 heaped tablespoons of peanut butter*
a splash of kecap manis (if you like it sweet)
200ml coconut milk (optional, according to taste and waistline...can use water to thin the sauce)

* I like crunchy peanut butter and would even go so far as to add extra crushed nut. It's up to you really, whether you use crunchy or not, but I think the nuts add texture. Smooth is better for a dipping sauce. Or if you want something lighter, just use crushed nuts.

1. Chop garlic, chilli and onions very finely and grate the ginger.
2. Fry these in sesame oil til softened but not brown.
3. Add the peanut butter and stir until combined
4. Gradually add the soy sauce, combining it with the peanut mixture
5. Add in the coconut milk (the first time you make it, put a little then test and repeat this til you get it to the richness that YOU like)

Stand aside while you cook rice, steam veges etc. Or make a salad with boiled eggs and pour over that for Gado Gado salad. Or make summer rolls.

Tip: I like to squeeze lemon juice over my steamed veges or salad as the acid contrasts really well with the sweetness / heat of the sauce.