March 11, 2008: Satay sauce

The soy bombs are back. This time we ate them with salad and satay sauce. Since the tofu balls are quite rich, I elected to toss the salad lightly with the sauce and leave the balls dry.

We took this sauce recipe from the weekend Australian magazine quite a few years ago (the date has since disappeared from the cutting). In our first year as vegetarians we frequently teamed it with stir-fried veges, diced faux-chicken from the Asian supermarket, and rice. I think it later fell out of favour after one particularly watery and bland rendition. But as long as you keep the water levels in check (veges often contribute moisture if they cook in the sauce), it's actually quite tasty. Perhaps a few trials are in order to adjust the flavour balance to your personal taste, but all the important ingredients should be there.

Satay Sauce

2 tablespoons vege oil
half an onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1-2 red chillies, finely chopped
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons soy sauce
water
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a saucepan, then add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli. Cook until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sugar, peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce and 2-3 tablespoons of water. Simmer for 5 minutes and add more water, if needed. Season to taste.