Author: Pat Tanumihardja

Oh, peanut sauce, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.

In Indonesia, peanut sauce is a staple served alongside many dishes, including satay, gado-gado, and meat- or fish-stuffed vegetables called siomay. Traditionally, cooks prepare peanut sauce by pounding roasted or fried peanuts to a paste using a mortar and pestle. The condiment has a rich nuttiness and gets its bold flavor from a mix of shallots, garlic, red chiles, and palm sugar, while a touch of vinegar, lime juice, or tamarind paste lends it an acidic kick. The sauce is ubiquitous throughout the country, where it goes by sambal kacang, saus kacang, or bumbu kacang, depending on the region. 

Though these all refer to peanut sauce, they can vary in their preparations. Some may call for fried garlic and chiles, while others may incorporate fragrant makrut lime leaves or lemongrass, savory shrimp paste, and kecap manis (a sweet soy sauce), among many other ingredients. Across Indonesia, you’ll find sauces that are as thick as gravy and others as thin as heavy cream. Despite their differences, each is as essential to Indonesian cuisine as the others. Satay would be incomplete without the thick version sauce it's served with for dipping, and kroket (meat-filled potato croquettes) would be much less enjoyable without the fiery heat of the variation called sambal kacang. Karedok, a salad from West Java similar to gado-gado, gets its additional brightness from a peanut sauce infused with peppery, herbaceous sand ginger. 

It’s unclear when Indonesians first began preparing peanut sauce, but the arrival of the peanut in Indonesia can be traced back to 1690, when Spanish and Portuguese colonists brought the legume to Asia. According to culinary historian Andrew F. Smith and author of Peanuts: The Illustrious History of the Goober Pea, peanuts had made their way across India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and China by the 18th century. This may explain why peanuts and peanut sauce are also present in other Southeast Asian cuisines.

In Thailand, for example, peanut sauce is frequently eaten with its version of satay. Thai peanut sauce almost always contains red curry paste, which tints it red and infuses it with aromatic galangal, lemongrass, cilantro roots, and makrut lime leaves. And that peanut sauce you dip your Vietnamese rice paper rolls in? Its salty-sweet flavor comes from a blend of fish sauce, hoisin sauce, and granulated sugar. In Singapore, hawkers pour chile-infused peanut sauce over satay bee hoon, rice vermicelli noodles with bean sprouts, water spinach, and cuttlefish. 

The peanut sauce recipe below is a simpler take on my Indonesian Chinese mother’s, who likes to toast raw, skin-on peanuts in a large wok until golden, then grind them—either by hand with a mortar and pestle or in the bowl of a food processor—until the nuts have the consistency of wet sand. It’s a slightly thicker version that’s best eaten with gado gado, satay, and ketropak, a rice noodle dish with vegetables and tofu.

Though I occasionally go to similar lengths, I typically choose the easier, more convenient route by using store-bought crunchy peanut butter, albeit the natural kind that contains only peanuts. Still, I recommend trying this with whole peanuts: Not only are whole peanuts more economical to purchase, they’re also more flavorful when freshly ground. As I once wrote for Epicurious, peanuts, like spices, tend to stale and go rancid quickly once ground, so using whole will generally produce a more fragrant peanut sauce. But there's no right or wrong, and if you need peanut sauce in a hurry, do as I do and go for the peanut butter. It's better than the alternative—which is no peanut sauce at all.

If using roasted peanuts, process in a high-speed blender or food processor until a paste the texture of wet sand forms, 3 to 4 minutes. (It will be coarser than peanut butter; you will get about 1 cup. If using a mortar and pestle, grind roasted) Transfer peanut paste to a small bowl and set aside.

Add shallots, garlic, red chiles, bird’s eye chiles, palm sugar, salt, and shrimp paste (if using) to the now empty food processor or blender and pulse, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed with a flexible spatula, until the mixture resembles cooked oatmeal, 30 seconds to 1 minute. If paste is too thick and not turning in the food processor, add water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until it loosens to your desired consistency.

In a small saucepan, bring lime leaves, tamarind, and 1 cup (240 ml) water to a gentle boil over medium heat. Simmer, using a spoon or spatula to break up the tamarind pulp as much as possible and infuse the flavors, about 5 minutes. Remove the lime leaves and remaining tamarind solids.

Stir in ground peanuts and chile paste, and cook over medium heat. When the mixture starts bubbling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thick and creamy, stirring often to prevent sauce from sticking to bottom of the pot, 4 to 6 minutes  If you prefer a looser sauce, add water 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Adjust seasoning to taste. Serve.

Special Equipment

Food processor, blender, or mortar and pestle

Notes

The texture and flavor of peanut butter cannot compare to that of whole peanuts, but if you’d prefer the convenience of peanut butter, use 2/3 cup natural unsalted crunchy peanut butter (6 ounces; 170g). Try to look for the freshly ground peanut butter in grocery stores, as it’s the closest in taste and texture to freshly ground peanuts. Use creamy if that’s what you prefer. 

Almonds or cashews can be substituted for peanuts.

1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce; 15g) sambal oelek can be substituted for 2 red chiles.

Indonesian palm sugar, known as gula merah, gula Jawa or gula aren, is less processed than the more ubiquitous pale yellow version used in Thai cooking. Gula Malacca from Malaysia is similar. Gula merah can be found at Asian grocery stores, especially those specializing in Southeast Asian ingredients. Coconut sugar or dark brown sugar can be substituted for palm sugar. 

Shrimp paste, makrut lime leaves and kecap manis are often available at Asian grocery stores, especially those specializing in Southeast Asian ingredients. 

Tamarind concentrate sold in jars and tubs is not my first choice because they vary in quality. You will likely have to use two to three times the amount listed in my recipe. Just taste as you go.

The recipe can easily be doubled if desired. 

To make peanut sauce with a mortar and pestle: Grind roasted, unsalted peanuts until they have the texture of coarse sand. Transfer peanut paste to a small bowl and set aside. Using the now empty mortar and pestle, pound shallots, garlic, red chiles, bird’s eye chiles, palm sugar, salt, and shrimp paste (if using) until the mixture is thick like oatmeal. Proceed with step 3.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Store peanut sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To reheat, warm peanut sauce in a saucepan set on medium-low heat. Add water, one tablespoon at a time, to loosen to desired consistency. 

In Indonesian cuisine, spice pastes called bumbu bumbu—repeating the noun makes it plural— are the cornerstone of many dishes. This white spice paste, known as bumbu dasar putih, is one of several bumbu dasar (basic pastes) that serve as the foundation for many Indonesian dishes. It’s typically made with garlic, shallots, candlenuts, and coriander, but some cooks may incorporate aromatics like makrut lime leaves, galangal, and/or lemongrass to add complexity to  it. Like other Indonesian spice pastes, bumbu dasar putih is named for its color. Unlike other deeply hued and bold spice pastes, however, this white one has a neutral taste that complements a wide range of ingredients. 

White spice paste is an easy way to flavor dishes, but I also use it as a base for preparing other bumbu dasar. For fiery red bumbu dasar merah, I incorporate spicy red chiles like Fresnos or bird’s eye chiles into it; for yellow bumbu dasar kuning, I add a hefty amount of earthy turmeric; and for black bumbu kluwek, I use the dark seed of the Pangium tree, which lends a smoky funkiness. These spice pastes are building blocks for many iconic Indonesian dishes: Crisp ayam goreng kunyit (turmeric-fried chicken) and my favorite chicken noodle soup, soto ayam, get their bright hue from bumbu dasar kuning, while bumbu dasar merah gives beef rendang (a dry beef curry) and telur balado (hard-boiled eggs in spicy sambal) bold heat. And rawon, a beef stew redolent with lime leaves and lemongrass, relies on bumbu dasar kluwek for its distinct earthy flavor and slight bitterness that’s reminiscent of dark chocolate and mushrooms.

Candlenuts (kemiri), a high-fat nut similar to macadamias, lend these spice pastes their velvety texture. Like walnuts, they have a mild, albeit slightly bitter flavor. Because they’re toxic when raw, they should only be consumed when fully cooked. Pounded candlenuts are used as a thickener in many Indonesian stews and curries. Though candlenuts are readily available online and at Southeast Asian grocery stores, you can substitute with macadamia nuts if you can’t find them. It’s rumored they’re called candlenuts because their high oil content makes them flammable, and they were once strung and used as candles.

What differentiates this white spice paste from others is its pleasant, mellow flavor. Because spice pastes are such a fundamental part of Indonesian cuisine, having ready-made bumbu dasar putih in the fridge makes it easier and faster for me to whip up treasured Indonesian meals, including opor ayam putih, a rich and creamy coconut-based chicken “curry” spiced with coriander and cumin. I make a big batch of white spice paste during the weekend, which sets me up for success all week long. With just a few tablespoons of bumbu dasar putih—which I fry in oil until fragrant before incorporating vegetables, proteins, and starches—I’m able to add exponentially more flavor to a simple stir-fry, soup, or fried rice.

Like my Indonesian Chinese mother, preparing my own spice pastes from scratch has become a part of my cooking routine. When I was growing up in Singapore, my mother made bumbu bumbu the traditional way with a mortar and pestle. Every day, she’d prepare fresh spice pastes for dinner that evening. I’d come home from school in the early afternoon to find her sitting on a stool in the kitchen, steadily pounding away. Depending on what was for dinner, she’d incorporate other ingredients like chiles, turmeric, or galangal to flavor the spice paste—but garlic and shallots were always a must.

While I respect my mother’s commitment to the mortar and pestle, I do not have such an affinity. More often than not, I rely on my trusty food processor to churn out my spice pastes. Not only is it quicker, but it also produces a more evenly-textured paste. Through plenty of trial and error, I’ve found that pulsing the paste—instead of puréeing it continuously—prevents overprocessing, liquefying, or bruising the ingredients, and results in a creamier paste. When the spice paste is too thick, I’ll add just enough liquid like oil or water to keep the mixture turning around the blades. But if you find yourself unable to effectively pulse the paste, I recommend using a spatula to scrape as needed.

Though the food processor is a much more efficient method, I do enjoy the meditative practice of grinding ingredients with a mortar and pestle when I’m not in a rush—plus, a mortar and pestle crushes the ingredients instead of chopping them, which releases more of their aromas into the paste. Making spice paste in the food processor also requires the addition of a small amount of oil to keep everything turning in the bowl, but you won’t need oil when using the mortar and pestle, as the paste will create its own emulsion as you pound.

Here are tips to keep in mind if you choose to go the mortar and pestle route:

• Ingredients that are hard to pound, like coriander seeds, should be finely ground beforehand.
• Pound the ingredients in order of hard to soft. Start by grinding the candlenuts. Then, incorporate tough aromatics like lemongrass and galangal, if using, followed by softer ones like shallots and garlic. (All the aromatics should be roughly chopped beforehand.) Finally, add the finely ground coriander and white pepper. 
• Add a pinch of salt with each ingredient. This increases the friction and helps to more effectively break down the ingredients as you pound.

In a small stainless-steel skillet, toast candlenuts over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and aromatic, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer toasted nuts to a small bowl and set aside.

Add coriander seeds to the now-empty skillet and toast over medium heat until lightly browned and fragrant, about 1 1/2 minutes. Using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, grind coriander into a coarse powder. (If using ground coriander skip this step and proceed with step 3.)

In a small 3- or 4-cup food processor or blender, process toasted candlenuts, ground coriander, shallots, garlic, salt, pepper, and oil, stopping and scraping down sides as needed, until thick paste forms, about 1 minute. (Spice paste should have the texture of cooked oatmeal; if it is too thick, add oil or water, 1 tablespoon at a time until thick and creamy.)

In a wok or medium nonstick skillet, add the spice paste and fry over medium heat, stirring continuously until it is aromatic and deepens in color and the paste separates from the oil, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat as needed if the paste is browning too fast to avoid burning.

Transfer to a heat-proof bowl and let cool completely before transferring to an airtight glass container (see notes.) Seal tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Special Equipment

Mortar and pestle or spice grinder, 3- or 4-cup  food processor, flexible spatula, wok or nonstick skillet, glass container

Notes

Mildly toxic when raw, candlenut (kemiri) is used as a thickener in Indonesian cooking. In Hawaii, it is known as kukui nut and is a common ingredient in poke. You can find candlenuts at some Asian grocery stores (especially those specializing in Southeast Asian cuisines) and online. Macadamias have a similarly high oil content and texture when pounded and are a good substitute. 

This recipe can be easily halved or doubled. 

To prevent the aroma of the spice paste from permeating the fridge, store the paste in a container that can be tightly sealed. I recommend using glass, as plastic can take on the smell of the spice paste. Wrap the container with plastic wrap if needed.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Bumbu dasar putih can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to two weeks or or frozen for up to 3 months.

To freeze the spice paste, spoon spice paste into ice cube trays and freeze until solid, about 4 hours. Remove frozen cubes and transfer to a zip-top bag or airtight container, then keep frozen to use as needed.