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Malaysian Satay Sauce is an incredibly flavorful spicy peanut sauce that pairs with Malaysian style satay.

Check out my Malaysian Satay recipes here:

A spicy peanut sauce that pairs with Malaysian style satay.

Satay has been one of my favorite foods ever since I can remember. I had shared my Malaysian Chicken Satay and Chicken Satay Burger recipes here on Wok & Skillet before and as promised, here is my recipe for Malaysian Satay Sauce.

Confession: When I’ve finished eating my Satay, I would eat just the sauce with a spoon then lick the bowl clean.

Today’s technology makes this sauce a snap to put together. What had to be ground, crushed or pounded using a Mortar and Pestle can now be done using a Magic Bullet Blender or a food processor in a fraction of the time.

This recipe yields about 1 cup of sauce. I like my sauce to be fairly thick but some may prefer it a bit more runny. If that’s the case, simply add a little more water till you get the consistency you want. If you’re making Chicken Satay Burger, I recommend keeping the sauce really thick so that it does not get your burger buns all soggy.

First, soak 1 or 2 dried red chilies in a small bowl of warm water. Use only 1 chili if you prefer a milder sauce; two if you don’t mind the spice. I LOVE the spice. The first time I attempted this recipe, I went with 6 chilies, plus one fresh red chili. Yeah…please don’t do that. I would NOT recommend that at all. 2 is perfect.

Next, soak 1 tablespoon of tamarind pulp in about 4 tablespoons of water. After it has soaked a few minutes, use your fingers to gently press the pulp to extract the juice from the tamarind.

Grind 1/2 a cup of unsalted dry roasted peanuts for just a few seconds using a food processor. You don’t want the peanut powder to be too fine; chunky is okay. Set the ground peanuts aside.

Next, cut off about 1 cm from the root, then finely slice only the white-ish pale portion of 3 lemongrass stalks.

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Put the lemongrass slices in a food processor or Magic Bullet blender. Add the red chili (or chilies), 3 garlic cloves, 4 small shallots, 2 teaspoons of ground cumin and 1 tablespoon of ground coriander.

Pour the tamarind juice into the blender, using your fingers as a sieve to catch the pulp. Add 1/4 cup of water in to the blender, then blend until all of the ingredients are pureed.

Heat up 1/4 cup of cooking oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Pour the puree into the wok and stir-fry until the oil starts to separate from all of the other ingredients and rise to the top. Stir constantly so the sauce does not burn. This should take about 2 – 3 minutes.

Toss in the ground peanuts, 1 cup of water, 1 teaspoon of salt and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar.

Stir till well combined. Let the sauce simmer for a minute in the wok before transferring it into a bowl.

Serve with your favorite satay or with my Chicken Satay Burger.

Malaysian Satay Sauce

Charmaine Ferrara

Malaysian Satay Sauce is an incredibly flavorful spicy peanut sauce that pairs with Malaysian style satay.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Cuisine Malaysian

Servings 1 .5 cups

Ingredients

1 – 2 pieces dried red chili
1 tablespoons tamarind pulp
1/2 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts
3 stalks lemongrass
3 cloves garlic
4 shallots
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 + 1/4 cup water
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

Soak the dried red chili (or chilies) in a small bowl of warm water.
Soak the tamarind in about 4 tablespoons of water. After a few, gently press the tamarind pulp with your fingers to release the tamarind juice.
Grind the peanuts in a food processor or Magic Blender for a few seconds. Set aside.
Cut off about 1cm from the lemongrass roots, then slice only the pale portion of the lemongrass.
Put the sliced lemongrass, garlic, shallots, cumin and coriander into the blender.
Add the tamarind juice, using your fingers as a sieve to catch the pulp.
Add 1/4 cup of water into the blender or food processor, then blend until all of the ingredients are pureed.
Heat cooking oil over medium high heat.”Stir-fry” the sauce puree until the oil starts to rise to the top.
Add the ground peanuts, 1 cup of water, salt and brown sugar.
Stir till well combined. Allow the sauce to simmer for a minute before serving.
Serve with your favorite satay.
Enjoy!