The chemistry of peanut butter in sauces is interesting. When one sautees
flour in butter until golden brown and then adds liquid (milk, broth, etc)
then the
liquid thickens into a sauce. the starch molecules in the flour are balled
up.
The sauteeing denatures them and opens them. At a chemical level, the
chains of
sugars in these open starch molecules are incredibly long. When the liquid
is
added, then the chains connect electrostatically across the liquid and
thicken it.
This same process occurs when peanut butter is sauteed in butter, (flavored
with
soy, sugar, peppers, spices, lemon juice, etc) and combined with coconut
milk or cow's milk.
For the Indonesian dishes, one should use ketjap benteng manis which is a
sweet,
thick, soy sauce. It can be found at All Things Dutch online and in many
Asian
groceries.
One special dish at our home is to make a peanut butter sauce as follows:

PEANUT SAUCE FOR SATÉ




4 Tbs smooth peanut butter

2 Tbs brown sugar

1 Tbs vinegar

6 Tbs water

1 tsp sambal oelek

3 Tbs Ketjap Benteng Manis (Indonesian sweet soja sauce) coriander





Mix everything together to make a sauce. Heat until smooth and bubbly. Add
water to thin if too thick.


Cook some white rice, steam some chopped cabbage, bean sprouts, and green
beans separately. Fry some not too ripe bananas in butter, halved. Boil
some eggs, peel and halve them. Serve all of these vegetables on top of the
white rice and covered in the sauce. The sambal oelek is red pepper paste
avaiable in all Asian groceries. It is fire. Use half as much if you do
not like it hot, but double it if you do.
Good luck,
Edward Warren
"RobtE" > wrote in message
...
>
> Last week I finally got around to buying some peanut butter. It's good
> stuff - so good that the other night I decided to do away with the bread
> altogether. A jar of peanut butter and a spoon is all I needed.
>
> Midway from jar to mouth, though, I had an idea: "What this needs is a
> bit of soy sauce." So I tried it. A few drops of Kikoman on the spoonful
> of PB. Lawdy, lawdy, Miss Clawdy! It was too good to be believed. Salt,
> sweet, umami - it had it all.
>
> Now, the question is, what can one do with this discovery? Such an
> exalted taste combination calls for something more than just a sandwich
> (though I tried that too and it was truly a consciousness-expanding
> experience). So, what sort of savoury dish can be made with PB and soy
> sauce?
>
> RobtE