Peanut sauce, satay sauce (saté sauce), ''bumbu kacang'', ''sambal kacang'', or ''pecel'' is an Indonesian sauce made from ground roasted or fried

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

s, widely used in

Indonesian cuisine Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions by various ethnic groups that formed in the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed ...

and many other dishes throughout the world. Peanut sauce is used with meat and vegetables, with grilled skewered meat, such as

satay Satay ( , in the US also ), or sate in Indonesia, is a Javanese cuisine, Javanese dish of seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. Satay originated in Java, but has spread throughout Indonesia, into Southeast Asia, Europe, ...

, poured over vegetables as

salad dressing A salad dressing is a sauce for salads, used on virtually all leafy salads. Dressings may also be used in preparing salads of beans (e.g., three bean salad), noodle or pasta salads and antipasti, and forms of potato salad. A dressing may even ...

such as in ''

gado-gado ''Gado-gado'' ( Indonesian or Betawi) is an Indonesian salad of raw, slightly boiled, blanched or steamed vegetables and hard-boiled eggs, boiled potato, fried tofu and tempeh, and sliced ''lontong'' (compressed cylinder rice cake wrapped ...

'', or as a

dipping sauce A dip or dipping sauce is a common condiment for many types of food. Dips are used to add flavor or texture to a food, such as pita bread, dumplings, crackers, chopped raw vegetables, fruits, seafood, cubed pieces of meat and cheese, potato ch ...

Ingredients

Many different recipes for making peanut sauces exist, resulting in a variety of flavours, textures and consistency. The main ingredient is ground roasted peanuts, for which

peanut butter Peanut butter is a food Paste (food), paste or Spread (food), spread made from Grinding (abrasive cutting), ground, dry roasting, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, ...

can act as a substitute. Other typical ingredients include

coconut milk Coconut milk is a plant milk extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of the milky-white liquid are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ingred ...

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...

galangal Galangal () is a rhizome of plants in the ginger family Zingiberaceae, with culinary and medicinal uses originating in Indonesia. It is one of four species in the genus ''Alpinia'', and is known for its pungent, aromatic flavor. Greater gal ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

, and

spice In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

s (such as coriander seed or

cumin Cumin (, ; ; ''Cuminum cyminum'') is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to the Irano-Turanian Region. Its seeds – each one contained within a fruit, which is dried – are used in the cuisines of many cultures in both whole ...

). Other possible ingredients are

chili pepper Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli ( ), are varieties of fruit#Berries, berry-fruit plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. They are used as a spice to ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

, fried

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

, and

lemongrass ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, oily heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some ...

. The texture and consistency of a peanut sauce mainly reflect the amount of water being mixed in it.

Regional

Indonesia

Peanuts were introduced from

the Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.'' Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sin ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

merchants into Indonesia in the 16th century. Peanuts thrived in the tropical environment of Southeast Asia. In

, they are found roasted and chopped in dishes and in marinades, and as dipping sauces. ''Bumbu kacang'' (peanut sauce) features in many Indonesian signature dishes, such as

, ''

'', ''

karedok Karedok ( Aksara Sunda: ) is a raw vegetable salad in peanut sauce from Sundanese region, West Java, Indonesia. It is one of the Sundanese signature dish. It traditionally includes longbeans, cucumbers, bean sprouts, cabbage, legumes, lemon ba ...

'', '' ketoprak'', ''

rujak Rujak ( Indonesian spelling) or rojak ( Malay spelling) is a salad dish of Javanese origin, commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The most popular variant in all three countries is a salad composed of a mixture of sliced fruit ...

'' and ''

pecel Pecel (, Javanese:ꦥꦼꦕꦼꦭ꧀) is a traditional Javanese salad with peanut sauce, usually eaten with steamed rice, ''lontong'' or '' ketupat''. The simplicity of its preparation and cheap price has contributed to its popularity throug ...

'', or Chinese-influenced dishes such as ''

siomay Siomay (also somai) () is an Indonesian steamed fish dumpling with vegetables served in peanut sauce. It is derived from the Chinese shumai. It is considered a light meal, similar to the Chinese dim sum. It is traditionally made from pork but ...

''. It is usually added to main ingredients (meat or vegetables) to add taste, used as dipping sauce such as ''sambal kacang'' (a mixture of ground chilli and fried peanuts) for ''

otak-otak ''Otak-otak'' (lit. brains in Malay and Indonesian; ) is a Southeast Asian fish cake made of ground fish mixed with spices and wrapped in leaf parcels. ''Otak-otak'' is traditionally served steamed or grilled, encased within the leaf parcel ...

'', or as a dressing on salads.

Satay Satay ( , in the US also ), or sate in Indonesia, is a Javanese cuisine, Javanese dish of seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. Satay originated in Java, but has spread throughout Indonesia, into Southeast Asia, Europe, ...

, a popular

Southeast Asian Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is ...

street food Street food is food sold by a Hawker (trade), hawker or vendor on a street or at another public place, such as a market, fair, or park. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

, is a dish commonly presented as skewered, grilled meat served with peanut sauce. Its popularity has caused the name "satay" to be used to describe both the sauce and the dish. In sauces, fried peanuts are often combined with ''gula jawa'' (

palm sugar Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from any variety of palm tree. Palm sugar may be qualified by the type of palm, as in coconut palm sugar. While sugars from different palms may have slightly different compositions, all are processed simila ...

shallot The shallot is a cultivar group of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the difference was t ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

, tamarind juice,

lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

juice,

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

, chilli,

pepper Pepper(s) may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plants ** Black pepper ** Long pepper ** Kampot pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanacea ...

, and

kecap manis Sweet soy sauce (; ) is a sweetened aromatic soy sauce, originating in Indonesia, which has a darker color, a viscous syrupy consistency, and a molasses-like flavor due to the generous addition of palm sugar or jaggery. ''Kecap manis'' is widely ...

(sweet soy sauce). Combinations of these ingredients are ground together and mixed with coconut milk or water. Indonesian peanut sauce tends to be less sweet than its Thai adaptation.

The Netherlands

Patatje oorlog met kalfsvleeskroket Leidschendam

Peanut sauce reached the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

through its former colonization of South East Asia. Besides being used in certain traditional Indonesian and Dutch-Indonesian dishes, it has found its way into a purely Dutch context as a condiment when it is eaten during, for instance, a (non-Asian style)

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

or with

French fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

. A popular combination at Dutch

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

outlets is French fries with

mayonnaise Mayonnaise (), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (), is a thick, creamy sauce with a rich and tangy taste that is commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, Salad#Bound salads, bound salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various o ...

and peanut sauce (often with raw chopped

s and with ketchup or Dutch currysauce), called a ''Patatje Oorlog'' (). Peanut sauce is also eaten with

baguette A baguette (; ) is a long, thin type of bread of French origin that is commonly made from basic lean dough (the dough, not the shape, is defined by French law). It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust. A baguette has a diameter ...

bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es. It is also used as an ingredient in the deep-fried snack food called ''Satékroket'', a

croquette A croquette (; ) is a deep-fried roll originating in French cuisine, consisting of a thick binder combined with a filling, which is then breaded. It is served as a side dish, a snack, or fast food worldwide. The binder is typically a thick b� ...

made with a flour- thickened

ragout Ragout (, , ) is a stew served as a main dish. Etymology The term comes from the French ''ragoûter'', meaning 'to revive the taste'. Preparation The basic method of preparation involves slow cooking over a low heat. The main ingredients are ...

based on Indonesian satay.

Other countries

* Malaysia cuisine includes peanut sauces similar to Indonesian cuisine. Javan, Minang, Bugis and other ethnic groups had immigrated from Dutch East Indies into the British controlled Malay peninsular, Sarawak and Sabah before independence. Most have assimilated as Malays and enriched the Malay cuisine. Dishes such as the peanut sauce and rendang were modified to become Malaysianised versions similar yet different to the original Indonesian dishes. * In Chinese cooking, the derivative sauce is often used Chaoshan style

hot pot Hot pot ( zh, c=, s=wikt:火锅, 火锅, t=wikt:火鍋, 火鍋, p=huǒguō, l=fire pot, first=t) or hotpot, also known as steamboat, is a dish (food), dish of soup/stock (food), stock kept simmering in a cooking pot, pot by a heat source on ...

. * In

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, among the many dishes using this sauce is satay beef noodles, very common for breakfast in

cha chaan teng ''Cha chaan teng'' ( zh, t=茶餐廳, cy=chàhchāantēng, l=tea restaurant), often called a Hong Kong-style cafe or diner in English, is a type of restaurant that originated in Hong Kong. ''Cha chaan tengs'' are commonly found in Hong Kong, Ma ...

s. * In

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, groundnut

chutney A chutney () is a spread typically associated with cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt, or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion ...

(spicy peanut sauce) is served along with breakfast, such as

idli Idli, iddena, iddali or idly (; plural: idlis) is a type of savoury rice cake, originating from South India, popular as a breakfast food in Southern India and in Sri Lanka. The cakes are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented de-h ...

and

dosa Dosa may refer to: Belief * Dosa or dvesha, a Buddhist concept of hate or aversion People * Bogoljub Mitić Đoša (1968 - 2017), Serbian actor * Csaba Dosa (born 1951), Romanian athlete * Dosa ben Harkinas, Jewish Tanna sage * Dosa ben S ...

. Variations include ''palli'' chutney (spiced whole peanut chutney) in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and ''kadalai'' chutney in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. * In the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, peanut sauce is known as ''sarsa ng mani'' and is used as a dipping sauce for satay and for different varieties of ''

lumpia ''Lumpia'' are various types of spring rolls commonly found in Indonesian cuisine, Indonesian and Filipino cuisine, Filipino cuisines. Lumpia are made of thin paper-like or crêpe-like pastry skin called "lumpia wrapper" enveloping savory or ...

'', as well as the base for

kare-kare Kare-kare is a Filipino cuisine featuring a thick savory peanut sauce. It is generally made from a base of stewed oxtail, beef tripe, pork hocks, calves' feet, pig's feet or trotters, various cuts of pork, beef stew meat, and occasiona ...

. * In

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, peanut sauce is not only used as dipping sauce for satay. It is also eaten with

rice vermicelli Rice vermicelli is a thin form of rice noodle. It is sometimes referred to as "rice noodles" or "rice sticks", but should not be confused with cellophane noodles, a different Asian type of vermicelli made from mung bean starch or rice starch r ...

known as satay bee hoon. * In

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, it is called ''tương đậu phộng'' and is used in '' cuốn diếp'' dish. The Vietnamese variation also contains

hoisin sauce Hoisin sauce is a thick, fragrant sauce originating in China. It features in many Chinese cuisine, Chinese cuisines, but is most prominent in Cantonese cuisine. It can be used as a glaze (cooking technique), glaze for meat, an addition to stir fr ...

References

{{Salad dressings Sauces Peanut dishes Malaysian cuisine Vietnamese cuisine Filipino cuisine Thai cuisine Chinese condiments Singaporean cuisine Dutch fusion cuisine Indonesian condiments

Ingredients

Regional

Indonesia

The Netherlands

Other countries

See also

References