Vietnamese Sate Sauce (Sốt Sa tế)

5 from 3 votes

Vietnamese Sate Sauce (Sốt Sa tế)

Vietnamese Sate Sauce (Sot Sa te) is a spicy red sauce which is an excellent addition to many dishes, especially for grilling and stir-frying.

Prep Time10

Cook Time40

Total Time50

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Keyword: sa tế, sate sauce

Servings: cup

Calories: 1668kcal

Author: Sophie

Equipment

Food chopper

Ingredients

4-5 medium or large lemongrass stalks, white and very light green parts only, roughly chopped (60g/2oz, or 3/4 cup chopped)
2 tablespoons roughly chopped dried shrimp, optional (15g/0.5oz)
2 tablespoons roughly chopped shallots (25g/0.9oz)
1 tablespoon roughly chopped garlic (10g/0.4oz)
2 teaspoons roughly chopped galangal, optional (10-15g/0.4-0.5oz)
3 small or medium bird's-eye chilies, seeds removed
6 red banana peppers, or any non/mildly spicy red peppers, seeds removed (120g/4oz)
3/4 cup neutral-flavored cooking oil (180ml)
1 teaspoon sugar (to taste)
1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
2 teaspoons soy sauce (to taste)

US Customary - Grams

Instructions

Place lemongrass and dried shrimps (if using) in a food chopper (or small food processor) and process into quite fine pieces. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Place shallots, garlic, galangal and both types of chilies in the food chopper (or food processor) and also process into quite fine pieces. Be careful not to process into a paste. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Heat oil over medium heat in a pot. Then add the processed lemongrass and dried shrimps. Cook for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lemongrass has reduced in volume and taken on just a bit of color.
Add the processed shallots, garlic, galangal and chilies to the pot. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all ingredients have softened, the sauce looks red and you can smell it. You may need to reduce the heat slightly if needed.
Add salt, sugar and soy sauce and continue to cook for another 8-10 minutes to let all flavors combine and the sauce has a very rich color. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Transfer the sauce to a bowl or container and let it cool completely. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and it can last for weeks.

Notes

The galangal and dried shrimps are optional. You can replace the galangal with just a bit more of the other aromatics (lemongrass, shallot, garlic). Replace the dried shrimps with more sugar to taste.

If you want the sauce to spicier, please feel free to add 1-2 more bird's eye chili.

For the quantity of ingredients listed in the recipe, I use a 3.5 cup Kitchenaid chopper to process the aromatics. If you scale up the recipe, you may need to use a bigger food processor.

Nutrition