Malaysian Peanut Sauce

from
Kurniawati Yahya

 

I made it last week and measured and wrote down what I did and used . I hope it will work for the rest of you. You will get a lot of the sauce but it will keep .

Ingredients:

a. 1 lb. peanut - roast or fry without oil - then grind it - but not too fine.

b. 5 shallots, 2 small pieces garlic, 1 lemon grass (thick/fat one), 1/2 inch ginger, 1/4inch galangal, 2 tablespoons dried shrimp, 2 tablespoons chilli powder (or less) - blend all these until really fine with a little water.

c. 1 teaspoon tamarind + 1/2 cup water

d. brown and white sugar - equal amounts - about a full cup ( you may add more if you want it sweeter and/or less hot) Salt to taste.

Directions:

Use a big pan. Heat about a tablespoon of vegetable oil and cook the blended ingredients (item b) until you see the oil separating from the water or rest of stuff. Add the tamarind juice bit by bit. Then add 1 cup water (add more later as the mixture boils and depending on how thick or watery you want the sauce to be). When the mixture starts to boil, add the peanuts, then the brown and white sugar and salt to taste. Let it simmer for a while - this is when you can see whether you need to add more water.

When you keep the sauce overnight, it might dry up a bit - just add some water when you reheat.

For rice like the type I brought to LATTICE in February, you have to do this the day before you want to eat it. When I made it for LATTICE I did it the night before. It takes time to cool and set.

Use plastic bags that you can boil food in. Wash the rice and put into the bag about 1/3 of the space before you seal it (make sure it won't burst open in the pan). use a needle/pin and poke holes in the bag so that water can get in (but the rice can't get out!). Boil (lots of water) for about one and a half hours (put about 1/2 teaspoon of salt if you are using a 5quart pot) - when you see that the rice has filled up the bag (really packed), drain the water. Leave it cool and set for at least 12 hours before cutting.

The following vegetables can be served with this: cucumber and white onion (some people love to have this, not me!).