thai peanut sauce
i wouldn't be surprised to find out that seattle has an equal number of thai food restaurants as we do starbucks. there is never a lack of thai food. luckily, i happen to enjoy thai food. a lot. one of my favorite thai flavors is the peanut sauce. my dad used to make a home made version that was slightly more complicated and involved a stove top... but the version i've created is fairly simple and tastes great at room temp on raw vegetables or thrown into a hot stir fry.

1 cubic inch fresh ginger, finely grated
1 or 2 cloves raw garlic, chopped
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
4 tablespoons tamari
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon dried chillies
1 teaspoon brown rice syrup or 1/4 cup coconut milk
notes: if you prefer a warm sauce over steamed vegetables or rice, try adding a quarter cup of coconut milk to your sauce and heating all ingredients together in a saucepan over low heat. if you prefer a thicker sauce for raw vegetables or to add into a stir fry, use brown rice syrup to slightly sweeten the sauce without adding too much liquid.
combine all ingredients in a food processor until combined to serve at room temperature or to add to stir fry. if making a warm sauce, combine ingredients in a sauce pan and cook at a low temp, stirring frequently. add additional coconut milk or water until you reach a desired consistency.
i love the sauce served with a mixture of raw and cooked vegetables and rice. this particular meal had red rice, cooked mushrooms and carrots with raw green bell peppers and avocado, served with sesame marinated bakes tofu.
Hi Aubrey! Marina gave me the link to your blog and told me I'd love it and she's right again. Much of the fun of dining out is imagining myself trying to prepare the dishes at home. I love that you feature Seattle restaurants so that I can try the recipe and the original. I also appreciate that you often mention the source of the ingredients and where you purchase them.
ReplyDeleteI ate out twice this week. I love The Cheeky Cafe which is across from CASA Latina on 17th and Jackson. The tofu steak with mushrooms and spinach is down-to-earth comfort food for vegetarians.
Poppy on Broadway is on the other end of the price spectrum, but the creativity of the menu and care of preparation make it worth the price. Their tapas concept allowed me to sample 10 amazing dishes full of surprising glavors and textures. This one meal will keep me busy in my own kitchen for weeks.
Thanks Linda! Glad you like Drum Beets! I love Poppy - we went there last week for our anniversary dinner. So good. There is a savory pastry I'd like to recreate from Poppy... Check back soon... I'll have to check out Cheeky Cafe too!
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