Adventures with Peanut Sauce: Part 2

Dinner tonight was planned for a tofu and veggie stir fry with peanut sauce. Usually I make my own peanut sauce, but this weekend I purchased a jar of Trader Joes own Peanut Satay Sauce (read the previous blog entry for a laugh).  I ended up turning it more into a tofu fried rice dish – using TJ’s frozen “organic foursome” veggie mix and frozen vegetable fried rice topped with pan fried tofu strips and peanut sauce.

I read the ingredients on the jar of sauce (perhaps something that should have been done in the store) to compare it to my homemade peanut sauce. And what did I see…….? Oh yes… FISH SAUCE. Oh man! Why didn’t I even think of that?!

Fish sauce, for those of you unfamiliar with the ingredient but undoubtedly freaked out by now, is a common ingredient in many Thai and East Asian dishes. It’s made, from what I understand, by compressing lots of tee-tiny fish and letting them ferment. The juice that collects underneath is then used to make fish sauce. So it’s very concentrated and potent. It’s also definitely not vegetarian-friendly!

So what did I do, you may ask? Oh, I continued to finish making my dish, and threw in a spoonful of the peanut sauce at the end to tie it all together. It was OK. My homemade peanut sauce is more to my liking, to be honest, and definitely doesn’t have me worried about fish guts. So…. does anyone want a 99% full jar of Trader Joes Peanut Satay Sauce??? haha

That was definitely not peanut butter….

Oh dear me… I came home tonight after a fast 3 mile walk with friends, and decided to make a peanut butter / chocolate chip sandwich as a late dinner. I had just been to Trader Joes today grocery shopping and picked up their natural peanut butter to try.  I noticed that the consistency seemed so much more runny than what you expect from peanut butter, even the natural variety. Also, I saw little red flakes in it – the peanut skins perhaps? I was so confused, but I spread a thin layer on the bread anyway, sprinkled on the choc chips and folded over the bread.

I took a bite – wow, that was a different taste. Kinda spicy, but tasted like peanuts. Weird. I finally turned to check the jar, and it was the Peanut Satay Sauce from Trader Joes that I had left on the counter to use with my tofu and veggies for dinner tomorrow!!! No wonder! So, I chucked the sandwich and started over with the actual peanut butter from TJs. Much better :)

I have had a wonderful weekend and done so many fun things, including seeing the Symphony last night, exploring East Nashville by foot and bus, watching the SEC gymnastics championship, and walking over 13 miles this weekend! I am pumped and ready for the new week to start!