nutty brown sauce
This is more of a blueprint than an actual recipe, but you’ll love it just the same. With different options for “the base,” this nutty brown sauce can be tailored to whatever dish you’re making and further customized with some of “the bonuses” based on what you’re eating. The important part is it remains nutty, creamy, tangy and a little bit sweet! Keep the base ingredient amounts the same, but otherwise you’re free to substitute other types of nut and seed butters, additional add-ins and do whatever feels right. From there, it’s all about the drizzle, toss-to-coat, or of course, the dunk.
yield about 1 cup
the base
6 T peanut/cashew/almond butter or sesame paste or tahini
6 T sesame/walnut/olive oil
1/4 cup rice/black/white wine/apple cider vinegar or lemon/lime juice
2 T granulated/brown sugar, honey or maple syrup
1-2 garlic cloves, finely grated
the bonuses
1-2 ts fresh grated ginger
sriracha or sambal oelek, to taste
chili oil, to taste
2-4 T low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
1-3 ts fish sauce
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 ts miso
chipotle paste or adobo sauce, to taste
recipe prep
Whisk all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Thin out with water as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time. Season with kosher salt, to taste.
combo suggestions (a thoroughly non-exhaustive list)
cashew butter + walnut oil + white wine vinegar + honey
peanut butter + sesame oil + lime + sugar + ginger + fish sauce + coconut milk
almond butter + olive oil + lemon juice + honey
Chinese sesame paste + sesame oil + black vinegar + brown sugar + soy sauce + sriracha
tahini + olive oil + lemon juice + maple syrup
peanut butter + olive oil + apple cider vinegar + honey + adobo sauce/chipotle paste
