Super Easy Satay

I love Satay in all its peanutty splendour. Peanut is not a common flavour in western savoury dishes (aside from sandwiches and cakes), so the distinctive taste makes a delicious change to the normal routine. This recipe is not at all authentic, but it’s so easy and tastes enough like the real thing that it’d be silly not to give it a try, would it not? Unless you’re allergic to peanuts. Then DON’T try it. Ever.

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil (it’s a strong flavour so I tend to mix it half and half with another oil like…)
• 1 tbsp groundnut oil (vegetable will do, but groundnut is a tasty oil to stock in yer cupboard for east-asian dishes)
• 2 tbsp of dark soy sauce
• 1 tin mock duck (inc. gravy - 1/2 with duck and 1/2 later to add liquid)¹
• 1 large courgette
• Enough mushrooms to make you feel awesome without making you feel sick (chestnut mushrooms are particularly good for this)
• 2 huge tbsp peanut butter (I prefer crunchy for the texture)
• Handful of baby spinach
• Dash of chilli flakes
• Salt and pepper to taste

Get the oil nice and hot in a wok² or large frying pan, dice the onion and chuck it in. Slice the courgette once lengthways and chop into half moons, adding them to the pan when the onion starts to go transparent, stir thoroughly. Add the “duck” and half of the gravy in the can. Break up the duck³ a bit with your stirring implement (you could slice it beforehand, but pfft), giving it a little colour. Scoop out two big ‘n’ delicious spoonfuls of peanut butter and chuck it in, adding the chilli flakes and soy sauce and stir thoroughly, the peanut butter will melt to make a nice thick sauce. Turn the heat down a bit and prepare the mushrooms, removing the some of the stalk, cleaning them with a damp paper towel (washing them like vegetables can make them slimy), and chopping them into quarters or eighths, depending on their size. After a few minutes, add them to the pan. Not long now! When it’s nearly done (after five minutes or so), add the spinach, stir for a minute or two and serve with noodles or salted and peppered boiled potatoes (non-traditional but super tasty).

Serves two. Maybe one if you’re insane.

Delicious variant I accidentally invented the other day: Add some chopped tomatoes at the beginning and a generous squeeze of concentrated tomato paste. The tomatoes add quite a bit of moisture to the recipe (not to mention a dose of vitamin C!) and the paste makes a nice flavoursome base that goes well with the peanut. We’re venturing even further away from authentic here, but I eat rules for breakfast and poop out rebellion (within carefully defined boundaries).