How to make delicious Kuah Kacang or Peanut Sauce.

Peanut sauce is an Indonesian sauce with a base made from ground peanuts. It has many names such as bumbu kacang, kuah kacang, pecel, or kuah sate. Thanks to Dutch colonization, it is widely used in cuisines worldwide. In Indonesia, you can find peanut sauce used as a dipping sauce for things like satay or as a dressing in a salad like gado-gado or ketoprak.

Substitute

Palm sugar: You can substitute palm sugar with granulated sugar. Palm sugar has a darker brown color and has a smoky fragrance and will result in a rich brown color sauce. You can order traditional Indonesian palm sugar from Amazon.

Peanuts: If you are not able to find blanched peanuts, you can use unblanched peanuts. Fry the peanuts until the shells turn dark brown and use a paper towel or kitchen towel to rub the skin off.

Tips

• Candlenuts must be cooked before consumption. Raw candlenuts can be toxic since they contain Saponin and Phorbol. The toxins can cause nausea and induce vomiting. You can toast the chopped or whole candlenut in a pan until brown before using or roast them in an oven at 350 F for 45 minutes – 1 hour.
• If you’d like to make the peanut sauce even spicier, you can leave the seeds after boiling the raw chilies. The more seeds you leave, the spicier the sauce will be. Caution the seeds are very spicy!

Peanut Sauce

Recipe by Catherine RicardoCourse: MainCuisine: IndonesianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Calories

546

kcal

Delicious peanut based sauce which can be used for dipping or dressing. Can be as spicy as you would like!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups blanched raw peanuts

• 3 tsp coriander

• 6 Shallots, chopped

• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

• 7 candlenuts

• 3 lemongrass stalks

• 50 – 100 grams dried chilli

• 1 inch galangal

• 1 cup of water

• 1/3 cup of sugar or 1 block palm sugar

• 1 tbsp sweet soy sauce

Directions

• Peanuts
• Heat 3/4 cup oil in a large skillet, add the blanched raw peanuts, and fry until brown and toasty. Remove from the skillet and let it cool down. Once it has cool down, you can use a mortar and pestle or a food processor to grind the peanuts.
• Spice Paste:
• Toast chopped/crushed candlenut in a frying pan until brown. Set aside.
• Soak dried chilies in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Drain the water and remove all the seeds. Leave the seeds if you would like a spicier sauce.
• Remove the tough outer layer of lemongrass and cut the bulb. Start slicing from the lower end until up to 2/3 of the stalk (or slice the white part only). Set aside.
• Peel your galangal and slice it. Set aside.
• Transfer shallots, candlenuts, dried chilies, lemongrass, galangal, turmeric powder, and coriander to a food processor. Blend until it turns into a paste. You can add 1 tbsp of oil to bind the paste.
• Peanut Sauce
• In a saucepan, heat up 3-4 tbsp of oil on medium heat and add the spice paste. Fry until the paste is fragrant and has slightly darkened.
• Add water, salt, sugar, sweet soy sauce, ground peanuts. Stir until combined.
• Keep stirring on medium heat until the peanut sauce has thickened to your liking or until the oil and the sauce separate.
• Let it cool to room temperature before serving.