Peanut Sauce

I love peanut butter and a good peanut sauce is among my favorite peanut variations. The only good peanut sauces I’ve had the pleasure of fully enjoying are at authentic Asian restaurants. Even homemade peanut sauces fell short of my usual expectations when I wanted to elevate my noodle dishes.

Peanut Sauce with Maple Syrup

That is until I happened upon this recipe. I’m not sure what magazine, cooking show or blog that I originally noted this down from all those years ago. Since the early 2000's it's lived on an index card in my box of favorite recipes.  As I was making this up for dinner, I substituted the traditional sweetener for maple syrup, I decided I had to share the results.

As I cook, I find there are more and more recipes that I swap the sugar for dark maple syrup. To make it even more convenient, I use a 500 ml (or 16.9 oz) squirt bottle and keep it in my fridge labeled “Grade B”. That is what we used to call the grade of syrup that was most used in cooking dishes.  Under the current grading system, the Grade B is known as Very Dark Strong Taste/Baking.  We add “Baking” as a market descriptor to let our customers know that this is the desired baking maple syrup. 

The Right Peanut Butter

Getting the right peanut butter for the job is essential. I love Reginald’s Original Roast Creamy Peanut Butter. Reginald’s is from Rockville, VA, and one can assume he knows as much about peanuts as a Vermonter knows about real maple syrup.

I use the whole 8 oz jar of creamy goodness. Every bit of it, even scraping the sides of the jar with a spatula. The peanut butter and all the ingredients go into my little Ninja food processor. A quick spin emulsifies the ingredients together. If I want a little crunch, I add a handful of roasted peanuts at the end.

What Hot Sauce to use?

Like a lot of recipes, this one just calls for an optional teaspoon of hot sauce.  My guys like hot sauce and there is always a good amount of choices in the door of my fridge. In this instance, I did use Vermont Maple Sriracha Hot Sauce. I like the sweet, savory heat of the fresh chilies and garlic combined with maple syrup.

The one thing I want to make sure you know is that when I mix this together, there is always a little twang from the Red Wine Vinegar immediately after. Leaving this noodle sauce out on the counter for the day tends to mellow out the vinegar.

Maple Syrup Peanut Sauce

1/2 C Reginald’s Creamy Peanut Butter
1/3 C chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 C soy sauce
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp roughly chopped garlic
2 Tbsp grated ginger
2 Tbsp Maple Syrup Very Dark Strong Taste/Baking
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tsp Hot Sauce, VT Maple Sriracha

Mix the ingredients together in the morning. Store in a lidded container for the day on the counter-top while the flavors meld together.  Unused peanut sauce can be stored in the fridge, just be sure to take it out the day you want to use it for dinner. I would imagine it could be stored for up to a month, but it never lasts that long in my house. 

Enjoy!