Peanut Sauce (Satay Sauce)

Crush the peanuts with a mortar and pestle or grind them in a food processor, then set aside. Don't over-grind — grinding too fine makes the sauce pasty.

In a small bowl, soak the tamarind pulp in 1/4 cup warm water for 15 minutes.

Squeeze and extract the juice from the tamarind pulp, discard the solids, and keep the tamarind juice.

Coarsely chop the spice paste ingredients — dried red chilies, garlic, shallots, 1 strip of lemongrass, and galangal — then blend in a food processor until very fine, adding a few tablespoons of water to help. Use bright, fresh dried chilies for a rich red color.

In a saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat and add the spice paste. Don't skimp on the oil — it helps the sauce separate later.

Add the remaining two strips of lemongrass and cook the spice paste until it becomes aromatic and smells spicy.

Add the ground peanuts, water, tamarind juice, salt, sugar, coriander powder, and sweet soy sauce, stirring to combine well.

Turn the heat to medium-low and stir continuously for about 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens to your desired consistency. It's done when the oil and peanut sauce start to separate — be patient. If it gets too thick, stir in a little water.

Let the sauce cool to room temperature, then serve with satay.