Categories: Food

Lemon Coconut Sauce

This sauce looks bland from here. I know. All that white. But it’s totally not. I’ve had a jar of it in the refrigerator for the past week, and it’s one of those things that makes just about everything you put it on (or in) better. I go about making it in a mortar and pestle, but have done it in a food processor or blender in the past when I’m short on time. We’re talking about garlic and green chiles worked into a paste, then bulked out with lots of scallions and cilantro. Coconut milk is the base, and the creaminess is balanced out with a good amount of fresh lemon juice.

How To Use This Coconut Sauce

This recipe makes a couple of cups (and it is quite rich), a jar goes quite a distance. Here’s a list of how I’ve used it:

Drizzled on veggie burgers or tofu burgers.
Swirled into a simple pureed asparagus soup.
Small dollops on top of a sheet pan frittata.
Added to the filling of deviled eggs.
Drizzled all over a vegetarian poke bowl.
Used as a finishing touch spooned over a bowl of hot, creamy polenta.
Thin out with a bit of broth in a saucepan. Then sauté a couple handfuls of broccoli in it, add tiny pieces of tofu, a couple big spoonfuls of cooked quinoa, and some toasted almonds. Dinner.

There’s still half a jar left and thinned out, it makes a really nice base broth for any number of soups. So, next up, I think I’ll use it instead of a more traditional curry broth, in a big pot with lots of fresh vegetables, maybe some noodles.

Tips

Use full-fat coconut milk here, it gives the sauce better consistency and mouth feel. You can thin it out to your liking from there depending on how you’re going to use it. Like I said, it’s rich, but a little goes a long way. 🙂