It works! First time I tried to make Indonesian satay without coconut milk. Less heavy but the satay flavour is there. Surprisingly good taste and easy to make.
Surprise! Satay without Coconut Milk
Since I’m on a quest of making more new vegetarian recipes, I borrowed a cookbook called ‘The Happy Pear, Vegan Cooking for Everyone‘, and there is an Indonesian satay recipe. Surprisingly, no coconut milk is used, and I got almost every ingredients on hand, let’s cook it!
The sauce, the key of a stew / curry, is as simple as below:
Easy satay sauce = Veg broth + peanut butter + honey + vinegar + soy sauce + lemon juice
The rest of it is just sautéed some onion, garlic, ginger and chilli, put the veg, tofu and the sauce together, simmer for 15 mins, done!
Cooking Notes
I’ve changed some ingredients as per my own convenience.
- Almond butter → Peanut butter: Since satay sauce’s main ingredient is peanut, so I went for peanut butter, and it was great!
- Maple syrup → Honey
- Apple cider vinegar → White wine vinegar
- Lime juice → Lemon juice
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 300 g sweet potatoes, diced
- 300 g firm tofu, diced
- a bowl of frozen peas, optional
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ thumb-sized ginger, grated
- ½ fresh chilli, deseeded and chopped
- Ground Spice
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- salt and pepper
- fresh coriander leaves, chopped
For the Sauce
- 700 ml vegetable broth
- 4 tbsp smooth peanut butter
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ lemon juice
How to Make Indonesian Satay Without Coconut Milk
- Heat 1-2 tbsp oil in a big pan or pot, pan-sear the tofu until it is nicely coloured. Set aside.
- Sauté the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli until the onions are softened, fragrant and slightly burnt, about 10-12 minutes (add more oil if needed).
- Add the ground spices and sweet potatoes to the pot, sauté for a minute.
- Add all the sauce ingredients into the pot and mix well. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 mins, until the sweet potatoes are cooked through. If the sauce looks too saucy, you may want to uncover it.
- Return the tofu together with the peas to the pot, cook for a further 3 minutes. After plating, garnish with coriander, or/and some nuts if you prefer, serve hot with noodles or rice.
More Vegetarian Curry/Stew Recipes
- Chickpea Curry (Chana Masala, NO coconut milk)
- The Happy Pear Chickpea Curry (Steps-Cut Chana Masala)
- Vegan Kale Potato Indian Curry
- Sweet Potato and Spinach Curry in Peanut Sauce
