I'll Be Miso-ing My Peanut Sauce From Now On

When I make peanut sauce, it’s usually from a recipe in an ancient 1989 Bon Appétit magazine.* Recently, however, another recipe caught my eye on Food52. It was made with white miso. And since I’ve had an open container of that in my fridge since Christmas (when I made Nobu’s Miso Cod), I was psyched. (And I’m not kidding about the word OPEN. When I dug it out of the back of the fridge, somehow the lid had disappeared and it was truly OPEN and uncovered! Luckily, miso is really hearty and it didn’t seem to matter a bit.) 

 

This miso peanut sauce turned out to be sensational, but I did change it a bit. I used more garlic and sesame oil...and black tea instead of water. BTW, I use so little peanut butter in my life that I decided a while ago to forego the natural stuff (which I always had to whirl up in the food processor). Now I just buy Jif in a tiny jar and I don’t have gobs of it hanging out in the fridge space pledged to other more important items. 

Miso Peanut Sauce

½ inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled

2 garlic cloves, peeled, with center stalk removed

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (Use your favorite. I use Jif)

1 heaping tbl. white miso (also called Shiro Miso)

2 tbls. unflavored rice wine vinegar

3 squeezes Sriracha

1 tbl. honey (If your peanut butter is unsweetened, add a bit more)

2 tsps. sesame oil

1/2 cup of black tea - divided in half, freshly brewed and still warm

plus extra 2 tbls. black tea or water, if desired

Place ginger and garlic in food processor fitted with metal blade. Whirl until finely chopped. Add remaining ingredients, including the first 1/4 cup of black tea. Process until smooth. Add up to another 1/4 cup of black tea by spoonfuls to get the consistency you prefer. 

Set peanut sauce aside, covered, until ready to use. Refrigerate if not using in the next hour. Check consistency before using. Add extra black tea or water little by little, if the peanut sauce is too thick.

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This time I was using the peanut sauce on top of grilled flank steak. I also served it with brown rice, steamed broccoli and snow peas, plus halved and vinaigrette-dressed grape tomatoes.  

Other times, I like to toss rice noodles or just cooked spaghetti with peanut sauce and add lots of julienned vegetables – cucumbers, red pepper, carrots and a bit of red onion. I can serve that alone or with julienned leftover flank steak or chicken. 

Note: If you’re using any peanut sauce to coat uncooked chicken, meat or fish (or shrimp), make sure to set aside that amount separately. You don’t want the spoon that touched the raw chicken, for example, to go back in the peanut sauce that may go on top of your raw vegetables.  

*(Email me if you want the Bon Appétit Peanut Sauce recipe, since it’s not mine to post.)

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