Peanut sauce tofu

Peanut sauce is one of the few things that can carry an entire dish on its own. It brings fat, salt, sweetness, acid and heat in one spoonful, which is precisely the list of things tofu does not bring.

Satay sauces of this kind belong to Indonesian and Malaysian cooking and have close relatives across Thailand and Vietnam. What follows is a simplified home version built for a weeknight, not a claim to any of those traditions.

The important structural decision: the sauce goes over the tofu on the plate, not into the pan. Peanut sauce is thick and clinging, and thirty seconds in a hot pan turns a good crust into a soft one.

Ingredients

Tofu

• 1 block (14 to 16 oz) extra-firm tofu, pressed 20 to 30 minutes
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Half a teaspoon of fine salt
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil for cooking

Sauce

• A third of a cup of natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or brown sugar
• 1 to 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 4 to 6 tablespoons hot water, to loosen
• Crushed peanuts, cilantro and lime wedges, to finish

Natural peanut butter, the kind with peanuts and salt on the label, gives a cleaner result. Sweetened commercial peanut butter works but drop the maple syrup, or the sauce turns cloying.

Method

1. Press and cube. Twenty to thirty minutes under weight, three quarter inch cubes, cut faces patted dry.
2. Coat. Toss with the cornstarch and salt until lightly dusted.
3. Build the sauce. Whisk the peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, maple syrup, chili garlic sauce, garlic and ginger together. It will seize into a stiff paste, which is expected and not a mistake. Add hot water a tablespoon at a time, whisking after each, until it pours slowly off a spoon.
4. Fry. Heat the oil in a twelve inch pan over medium-high until it shimmers. Single layer with gaps, undisturbed 3 to 4 minutes until the pieces release, then turn and continue until golden on most faces. About twelve minutes.
5. Serve. Tofu onto plates or into bowls, sauce spooned over, then crushed peanuts, cilantro and a lime wedge.

The seizing step throws people. Peanut butter tightens when it meets an acidic liquid and then loosens again as water goes in. Keep whisking and adding water and it comes back smooth every time.

Adjusting the sauce

Too thick: more hot water, a tablespoon at a time. It thickens considerably as it cools, so aim slightly looser than you want it.

Too sweet: more lime and more soy. Almost every peanut sauce problem is an acid problem.

Too salty: more peanut butter and a little water, not more sugar.

Flat: lime first, then chili. Heat reads as flavor here in a way that salt alone does not.

It keeps a week in the refrigerator and thickens hard in the cold. Loosen with hot water and stir rather than warming it, since heating peanut sauce tends to separate it.

Building it into a meal

Rice noodles, rice, or a bowl of shredded cabbage, carrot and cucumber. Raw crunchy vegetables work particularly well against the richness, and the cold contrast is part of why satay-style dishes are usually served with something sharp alongside.

The sauce is also good on roasted vegetables, cold noodles, steamed greens, or as a dip for skewers. Frozen in a tray it becomes a base cube, which the freezer cube system covers.

Air fryer and oven

Air fry the coated cubes at 390F for 14 to 17 minutes, or roast at 425F for 25 to 30 minutes turning once. Make the sauce while either runs. Because the sauce is added on the plate, neither method loses anything against the pan version, which makes this one of the easiest recipes here to cook hands-off.