Hot Thai Sauce. For Steaks, Fish or Chicken.

Hurrah! We had a braai on Sunday, it was such a joy to see the sun after weeks and weeks of grey and drizzle-y weather.  Being rather excited about the prospect of a spritzer by the coals, and being left alone for the morning while the hubbie went into the hospital, I got creative and decided to give the meal a Thai twist.  

I quickly whizzed up this sauce and then dolloped it over the steaks - it was completely divine.  You could maybe braai a huge steak, then slice it up and spoon over the sauce, it'd be perfect for a smartish lunch or dinner.  And best of all any the leftover sauce can be used to make my Thai rolls http://bizandthebear.blogspot.com/2012/06/chicken-and-asian-pesto-thai-rolls.html.  Oh and when serving the Thai rolls - sherry and Thai food is a unexpectedly winning combo.

Ingredients (makes a small jam jar's worth)

A large handful of cashews or peanuts
2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 red chilli, roughly chopped
2 fat garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
a large knob of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
juice of 4 limes
1 very large handful of Thai or sweet basil
a couple of glugs of sesame or peanut oil

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C and roast the nuts on a baking tray for 10 minutes, or until starting to colour.  Remove and allow to cool.

2. Pop all the ingredients in a blender...

So colourful...

And add enough oil to loosed it up into a sort of thick pesto consistency...

It keeps in the fridge for a few days and other than topping a steak or chicken, it is delicious in a sandwich or even as a dip with carrots.