Satay's soulmate: peanut butter rounded with coconut milk, warmed with curry notes, sharpened with lime. Addictive on approximately everything.
What you need
Ingredients
Servings
6
Before you start
Mise en place
Yield: About 300 ml
Equipment
Small saucepan
Whisk
Prep checklist
Peanut Butter — natural, unsweetened
Lime — juiced
Garlic — grated
2 steps
Method
1
Whisk everything over medium-low heat until smooth and gently bubbling, 3–4 minutes. It will look broken, then come together — keep whisking.
4 min — timer available in cooking mode
2
Thin with warm water to your purpose: thick for dipping, pourable for noodles. Balance lime (bright) against sugar (round) at the end.
From the pass
Chef's notes
Taste before serving and adjust salt and acid — the last 30 seconds of seasoning matter more than any single ingredient.
Adapt it
Dietary swaps
Gluten-free
Tamari instead of soy.
Plant-based
Already plant-based as written.
Afterwards
Keep, reheat & pair
Storage
Airtight jar in the fridge, 3–5 days. Press plastic wrap onto the surface of starch-thickened sauces to stop a skin forming.
Freezing
Most sauces freeze 2–3 months; freeze in ice-cube trays for single portions. Emulsified butter/egg sauces don't freeze — they break on thawing.
Reheating
Reheat gently over low heat, whisking; butter- and egg-based sauces split when boiled. Loosen with a spoonful of warm water or stock.
Make ahead
Most sauces keep 3–5 days refrigerated and freeze in ice-cube trays for instant single portions. Emulsified butter sauces are best made within the hour.