Soy Satay with Red Curry Almond Dipping Sauce

not a great shot, but a great meatless version of a classic street food

recipe #204

Only a real sicko doesn't like food on a stick. I haven't made many stick based foods in the course of this project so I'm getting on that.

Last night I invented a vegetarian satay or satés. We were having folks over for dinner and I was (falsely) under the impression most of them were vegetarian.

Anyway, it was good.
Tofu Satay with spicy red curry dipping sauce
14-19 oz. of drained, pressed and crumbled firm tofu
3/4 cup finely chopped shallots (about 3)
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fish sauce or (soy sauce)
1 tablespoon mirin (or sake, sherry, rice wine)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
1/4-1/3 cup besan or white flour

bamboo skewers

Combine tofu with shallots, garlic, sugar, pepper, oil, fish sauce, mirin, and salt, turmeric and lime juice. Let is sit for an hour or 2 to let the flavors settle.

Mix in flour to get the tofu to a consistency that it will stick together.

This is the part that took some experimenting. Take about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the tofu mixture and mold it around the skewer. Meat satays are more flat than round. This wont work for the tofu. You need to make a skinny sausage shape around the skewer or the tofu will fall off the skewer.

Prepare grill for cooking over medium charcoal (moderate heat for gas). If you haven't got a grill a griddle will work just fine.

Grill skewers, roll them to get them evenly browned. They should cook for about 10 minutes to get them dried out enough that they stay on the skewer.

From Epicurious:
Red Curry Peanut Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup roasted salted peanuts
1 tablespoon packed palm or dark brown sugar
2 to 3 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
8 to 10 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped shallot (about 1 large)
2 fresh Thai or serrano chiles (2 to 3 inches; preferably red) including seeds, thinly sliced crosswise

Finely grind 3 tablespoons peanuts in a food processor along with sugar. Finely chop remaining tablespoon peanuts by hand.

Stir together curry paste (to taste) and 6 tablespoons water until paste is dissolved.

Heat oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté garlic, shallot, and chiles, stirring, until golden, about 4 minutes. Add ground peanut mixture and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in curry mixture and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in chopped peanuts.

Cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes, then thin with water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to desired consistency.

Makes about 2/3 cup.

a fine example of drunked food photography

I followed this recipe and it was very very very spicy. I took half of it and mixed it with 3 tablespoons of almond butter and a bit of water. It was perfect after that.

I served this to a room full of carnivores and the loved them. If I can work out the consistency issues and get it to stick to the skewers better I'll make this a standard. I loved these.