Peanut Sauce

Dry-roast the raw peanuts in a heavy pan over medium-low heat, shaking constantly, 8 to 12 minutes, until golden and fragrant with dark freckling. Let them cool completely — they crisp as they cool. Pound in a granite mortar (or pulse in a processor) to a coarse rubble: about two-thirds gritty meal and one-third pea-sized pieces. You want texture, not peanut butter; over-grinding releases oil and turns the sauce pasty and flat.

Put the thick coconut cream alone in a wide pan over medium heat and let it bubble and reduce, stirring, 4 to 6 minutes, until it 'cracks' — the cream splits and a slick of clear oil pools at the edges. Stir in the red curry paste and fry it in that coconut oil, pressing and turning, 3 to 5 minutes, until the raw garlic-and-galangal smell cooks off and the oil glows red and aromatic. This frying of the paste (pad prik gaeng) is what builds depth; skip it and the sauce tastes flat and dusty.

Stir the pounded peanuts into the fried paste so every grain is coated in the red oil, then pour in the coconut milk (or water). Bring to a gentle simmer and cook 8 to 12 minutes, stirring often as the peanuts drink the liquid and thicken the sauce. It will go from loose to luxuriously thick; thin with a splash more coconut milk or water whenever it gets too tight to fall off the spoon. The peanut starch and oil now carry the chili heat and give the sauce its body.

Off a vigorous simmer, stir in the tamarind, palm sugar, and fish sauce. Let it melt together for a minute, then taste and tune: it should hit sweet first, then salty and sour close behind, with the chili heat blooming at the back. Adjust in small amounts — palm sugar to round, tamarind to brighten, fish sauce to deepen — until no single note dominates. Loosen to a thick-but-pourable dipping consistency. Spoon into a bowl, scatter the reserved chopped peanuts over the top, and serve warm with grilled satay.