Spicy Peanut Stir Fry
Love spicy? You’ll love this. Love Satay…this is for you. Allergic to peanuts…how’d you even get to this post?! This is a very rich and flavorful Southeast Asian inspired dish. You can go pretty hot on this one without fear of melting your face off, I promise. The reason is that capsicum, the nuclear component of peppers, is fat soluble and will bind to the peanut butter. Therefore, you get all the flavor but the heat is somewhat muted. Feel free to further amp up the chilies if you like it incendiary, like I do. The meat you choose is important as well, both for the above science lesson as well as for flavor and textural purposes. My go to choices are boneless short ribs which are deeply marbled and full flavored, but chuck eye steak (not roast, awesome but something very different) is a close second. Choose 3-4 vegetables such as onion, bell pepper, broccoli, green beans, snow peas, Napa cabbage or bok choy based on what looks and sounds good or is on sale. Serve with white rice.
What you’ll need
Wok
1 lb boneless short ribs sliced thin
4 C assorted vegetables cut into strips or bit size pieces
1/3 C crunchy peanut butter
3 T + 2 T soy sauce
3 cloves minced garlic
2 T Sambal Olek (chili paste)
2 T fish sauce (I prefer Three Crabs brand)
½ T rice vinegar
2 fresh minced hot chilies
2 T peanut oil
3 T crushed unsalted roasted peanuts
Start by cutting up the vegetables and placing in a bowl. It should look like you will be feeding several hungry rabbits. Mince the garlic and chilies and place in a medium sized bowl. Now you can use the same cutting board for the meat. I just saved you a dish to wash, thank me later.
Once the meat is cut, gaze upon its beauty…seriously, it should look awesome. Next marinate the beef in 2 T soy sauce. This doesn’t have to be a fancy affair, just slosh it on the meat right on the cutting board. See how easy I’m making this.
Add the peanut butter, 3T soy sauce, fish sauce, chili paste and vinegar to the garlic and fresh chilies. Stir thoroughly to a smooth and almost liquidy texture adding a bit more soy sauce if necessary.
Heat 1 T peanut oil over high heat and fry meat until liquid is gone. Add ½ the peanut butter mixture and cook until meat is brown and crispy. Remove meat to a bowl.
Add 2nd T of peanut oil and stir fry the vegetables for 3-4 min, until just starting to be cooked. Add remaining peanut butter mixture and stir to coat. Add back in the meat and stir until all mixed. Remove from the heat and sprinkle on the crushed peanuts. It’s ready, go eat.
