Peanut sauce

Peanut sauce
Peanut sauce with vegetables in pecel
Alternative namesSatay sauce, bumbu kacang, sambal kacang, pecel
TypeCondiment
Place of originIndonesia[1]
Serving temperatureRoom temperature
Main ingredientsGround roasted peanuts, water and spices
Other informationNow part of global cuisine, but associated mainly with Southeast Asian cuisine.

Peanut sauce, satay sauce (saté sauce), bumbu kacang, sambal kacang, or pecel is an Indonesian sauce made from ground roasted or fried peanuts, widely used in Indonesian cuisine and many other dishes throughout the world.[2]

Peanut sauce is used with meat and vegetables, with grilled skewered meat, such as satay,[3] poured over vegetables as salad dressing such as in gado-gado, or as a dipping sauce.

Ingredients

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Many different recipes for making peanut sauces exist, resulting in a variety of flavours, textures and consistency. The main ingredient is ground roasted peanuts, for which peanut butter can act as a substitute.[4] Other typical ingredients include coconut milk, soy sauce, tamarind, galangal, garlic, and spices (such as coriander seed or cumin).[2] Other possible ingredients are chili peppers, sugar, fried onion, and lemongrass. The texture and consistency of a peanut sauce mainly reflect the amount of water being mixed in it.

Regional

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Indonesia

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Satays are commonly served with peanut sauce, a name which has rubbed off onto the sauce.[1]
Indonesian siomay is served with peanut sauce

Peanuts were Introduced from Mexico by Portuguese[clarify] and Spanish merchants into Indonesia in the 16th century[citation needed]. Peanuts thrived in the tropical environment of Southeast Asia.[citation needed] In Indonesian cuisine, they are found roasted and chopped in dishes and in marinades, and as dipping sauces.[5]

Bumbu kacang (peanut sauce) features in many Indonesian signature dishes, such as satay,[6] gado-gado, karedok, ketoprak, rujak and pecel, or Chinese-influenced dishes such as siomay. It is usually added to main ingredients (meat or vegetables) to add taste, used as dipping sauce such as sambal kacang (a mixture of ground chilli and fried peanuts) for otak-otak, or as a dressing on salads. Satay, a popular Southeast Asian street food, is a dish commonly presented as skewered, grilled meat served with peanut sauce.[1] Its popularity has caused the name "satay" to be used to describe both the sauce and the dish.

In sauces, fried peanuts are often combined with gula jawa (palm sugar), garlic, shallot, ginger, tamarind juice, lemon juice, lemongrass, salt, chilli, pepper, and kecap manis (sweet soy sauce). Combinations of these ingredients are ground together and mixed with coconut milk or water. Indonesian peanut sauce tends to be less sweet than its Thai adaptation.[citation needed]

The Netherlands

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Patatje Oorlog, fries served with peanut sauce and mayonnaise in the Netherlands

Peanut sauce reached the Netherlands through its former colonization of South East Asia. Besides being used in certain traditional Indonesian and Dutch-Indonesian dishes, it has found its way into a purely Dutch context as a condiment when it is eaten during, for instance, a (non-Asian style) barbecue or with French fries. A popular combination at Dutch fast food outlets is French fries with mayonnaise and peanut sauce (often with raw chopped onions and with ketchup or Dutch currysauce), called a Patatje Oorlog (lit. "Fries War").[7] Peanut sauce is also eaten with baguette, bread, cucumber or potatoes. It is also used as an ingredient in the deep-fried snack food called Satékroket, a croquette made with a flour-thickened ragout based on Indonesian satay.[citation needed]

Other countries

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Spring rolls with peanut sauce for dipping

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Bartholomeusz, Rachel. "So much more to satay than peanut sauce". SBS Food. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  2. ^ a b "Indonesian-Spiced Peanut Sauce". Food & Wine. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  3. ^ Doak, Robin S. (2004). Indonesia. Capstone. ISBN 978-0-7565-0582-0.
  4. ^ Robertson, Robin (2006-02-21). Peanut Butter Planet: Around the World in 80 Recipes, from Starters to Main Dishes to Desserts. Rodale. ISBN 978-1-57954-963-3.
  5. ^ O'Neill, Molly (2000-07-02). "Food; The Stick Shift". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  6. ^ Wongso, William W.; Tobing, Hayatinufus A. L. (2012-12-25). Mini Homestyle Indonesian Cooking. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4629-1106-6.
  7. ^ Sparvell, Ray (30 August 2016). "Dutch "war fries" provide a battleground of tastes". SBS Food. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
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