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I'm interested in making my own Thai Peanut sauce. However, every recipe I see online says to use peanut butter. I like Thai Peanut sauce I have in restaurants, but I HATE peanut butter. So when I see a recipe that uses peanut butter (which also has tons of extra crap in it that is less than good for you), I think that the final result can't be good.
How does one make a peanut sauce without peanut butter? Grind peanuts yourself?
Peanut butter is just ground roasted peanuts essentially. The american style peanut butter tends to be sweetened, as well as having extra oil and salt. But they are only slight flavour/texture enhancers (not that I think sugar enhances it, UK peanut butter is unsweetened usually).
Satay sauces are essentially just peanut butter sauces, roast some peanuts, grind them, then add to some lightly fried shallots and garlic, with chilli, soy sauce, lemon juice, salt, sugar and if you want it authentic probably some nam pla (fish sauce), or blachan (shrimp paste), all of the above to taste. Thin with water and reduce to the consistency you desire.
Peanut sauce is one of my very most favorite condiments, I practically consider it a major food group, and I moved from the US to live in another country where peanut butter is not available. Roasted & shelled peanuts are however bountiful and cheap, luckily, so I just learned to make my own peanut sauce. Here's how I make a simple and fast peanut sauce that is really tasty, perfect for satay, pouring on pasta, etc., doesn't require exotic ingredients, and you don't need a huge, expensive food processor, even a small sized one will work:
Process about 125 grams (few handfuls) of roasted/shelled peanuts in the processor until they're "dust" or as chunky as you like, remove from processor and set aside. (Order here is important, because trying to add the liquid later using a wimpy/small processor results in the ingredients never mixing well and is an exercise in frustration).
Peel a few cloves of garlic, process them until finely chopped, leave them in processor.
Add two teaspoons apple cider vinegar, two teaspoons sugar, two teaspoons soy sauce, and a few tablespoons of water. (Alter proportions to taste, I prefer a sweeter sauce).
blend
alternate adding in peanut dust and more water until all the peanuts are added and the consistency is what you like.
Pour on pasta or whatever you like and enjoy!
This answer is a bit redundant given some of the comments on the accepted answer, but still:
Get a brand of peanut butter that's just peanuts. The one I get most of the time is Adam's, but Kraft has one, I've seen Maranatha products, but didn't know they made peanut butter until now. It shouldn't be hard to find something that will work for you.
I boil my shelled peanuts with cloves of garlic and then blend them in the blender. Makes for the beginnings of a nice sauce! Then add whatever other incredients you want! Good luck!
