Vegan Mushroom Satay with Peanut Sauce

Satay (in Indonesia, we usually call it “Sate”) is a grilled skewer dish famous in Southeast Asia. It is similar to Middle Eastern kebab but is served with a sauce. Most of the time, satay is made of meat, but other ingredients like mushrooms, tofu, and tempe are not uncommon. In this recipe, we will make vegan mushroom satay!

Satay Varieties

There are many varieties of satay based on the meat used, the way the meat is cooked, the spice used for the seasoning, and the sauce served with it. One study in Indonesia says there are 252 varieties of satay.

The article in the previous paragraph says that meat is still the most popular ingredient, with beef ranked first, followed by chicken and lamb. The spices mostly consist of salt and garlic, followed by onion, coriander, and coconut sugar. Peanut sauce ranked first among the sauces, while the most popular complementary condiments are sweet soybean sauce (kecap manis), sliced onion, chili, tomato, and fried onion.

How Usually Satay is Sold in Indonesia

In Indonesia, Satay is mostly sold in two methods: gerobak or warung. Gerobak is an Indonesian term for the wheeled cart in which the satay seller will carry all ingredients (such as the raw chicken in the skewer, the peanut sauce, chili paste, etc) and the grilling equipment inside their cart. They will start walking around the neighborhood in the evening by shouting “Sateee”. The purpose is to make people aware of their presence with the hope of getting the satay order from them. They will make the satay on the spot by grilling it in front of the customer’s house. The type of satay that they sell is usually limited to only chicken meat.

Warung is a modest shop that usually has a fixed location. It usually also has a place where customers can sit and enjoy their satay. It’s like a restaurant but in a small form. Similar to gerobak, they also start selling their satay in the evening. Still, different from gerobak, they don’t need to shout the word “sateee” since people already know their presence. Some warung satay will also sell mutton satay and mutton soup on top of chicken satay.

The Best Mushroom for the Vegan Mushroom Satay

Choosing what’s best for this satay can be tricky because everyone has their favorite mushroom. As long as you can stick it onto the skewer, you can explore this recipe with multiple varieties of mushrooms.

I have made this vegan mushroom satay using two types of mushrooms: king oyster and lion’s mane. So far, I prefer the lion’s mane because of its meaty-like texture and rough surface, which can retain the seasoning we put in. In this recipe, I share the satay recipe with the lion’s mane mushroom.

You are missing out if you haven’t tried lion’s mane mushrooms! This mushroom, also famously called Hericium or monkey head, is delicious and has many benefits for cognitive health. Some of them are protecting us from dementia, relieving mild symptoms of anxiety and depression, etc.

Ingredients to Make Vegan Mushroom Satay

Tips for Handling Lion’s Mane Mushroom

There are 2 types of lion’s mane mushrooms that you can get: fresh and dried. I have a challenge finding the fresh form of that mushroom in Singapore, so I always use the dried version of it (link to Amazon). To make it ready for cooking, I do a couple of steps to make it ready:

• Wash the lion’s mane mushroom
• Remove some stems since this part is usually bitterer than the others.
• Soak them in hot, salted water for 1 hour. The purpose of this is mainly to make it soft, and also, the salt will help to remove the bitter taste of the mushroom. I heard you could add cornstarch to help remove the bitter taste, but I have never tried that. After the first 15 minutes, I would tear down some of the lion’s mane mushroom into smaller chunks (satay meat size)
• After 1 hour, squeeze the mushroom to let all the water it absorbed out.
• Rewash it with cold water and continue the squeezing until the water that comes out of the water is clear.
• Your mushroom is ready for cooking

Main Ingredients for the Peanut Sauce 🙂

The main ingredient for the peanut sauce is Raw Peanut, which needs to be cooked. Cooking the peanuts enhances their flavor, giving them a more prosperous, deeper taste than their raw counterparts. There are several methods to cook the raw, such as:

• Fry them with wok and oil (I found a good recipe and tips here)
• Fry them using an air-fryer (This is my preferred method.)
• bake them (recipe and tips here)

You have to take note of a couple of things when you air-fry the peanuts.

1. First, you have to wash them to get rid of all the dirt and stones. Do this by placing the peanuts on a strainer or colander and running them through water for a couple of seconds. After that, use a paper towel to remove as much excess water as possible.
2. Place the raw peanut inside the air fryer and set it to 200°C (~400°F) for 10 minutes. I air-fry garlic with the peanut because garlic is also one of the sauce ingredients. I don’t like the taste of raw garlic, so I air-fry it based on my preference. You can skip air-frying garlic if you have no concerns with the raw garlic flavor in the sauce.
3. After 10 minutes, open the air-fryer drawer to let the hot air out and stop cooking your peanut. If your peanut still looks as pale as mine after you air-fry it, don’t worry. As long as you can see the splits/cracks in some of the peanuts, you are good to go!

Other ingredients for the Peanut Sauce

There are 7 other ingredients that we need to make satay sauce. This sauce will be used to marinate the mushroom and to dip the satay after we grill the satay :

1. Sweet Soy Sauce (Kecap Manis): this is a sweetened aromatic soy sauce originating in Indonesia, which has a darker color, a viscous syrupy consistency, and a molasses-like flavor due to the generous addition of palm sugar or jaggery. It has a slightly thicker consistency in compare to the regular soy sauce and tastes much sweeter. When I stay in the US, I have difficulty finding this sauce in a nearby supermarket; luckily, it is available on Amazon (Link).

2. Coconut milk. Trust me, you should not skip this ingredient. In addition to enhancing the flavor, coconut milk acts as a natural thickener, giving your sauces and gravies a luscious consistency. Its creamy nature blends seamlessly with spices and other ingredients, creating a harmonious balance of flavors.

3. Tamarind Paste. Tamarind paste has a sweet flavor balanced by a sour flavor. We use this paste primarily to boost the acidity of this sauce. But I’m aware that it can be hard sometimes to get this paste if you are not in Asia. You can substitute this paste with lime juice or white rice vinegar.

4. Brown Sugar. Brown sugar is refined white sugar with added molasses. Because of these molasses, they will have a deep, caramel-like, or toffee-like flavor.

5. Garlic. During the process, all of the ingredients (including garlic) for the dipping sauce will be blended together without cooking (except when we use it to marinate the mushroom). Since I don’t like the taste of raw garlic, I usually air-fry the garlic with the raw peanuts. You can follow the same method as mine if you have the same personal preference.

6. Chillies. Only if you want it to be spicy. When I took a picture of this recipe, I made it for my boyfriend, who has zero tolerance for spiciness hence, I didn’t put any chili inside the sauce

7. Salt. I believe salt is already part of your kitchen staples, right?

Let’s Start Making Our Vegan Mushroom SATAY!

1. I’m going to use a hand/immersion blender. Mix all ingredients into the bowl (raw peanuts, sweet soy sauce, coconut milk, tamarind paste, brown sugar, garlic, salt, and water). Try to use a giant bowl since, during the blending process, some of the peanut bits will be splashed out, so the width of the bowl should be able to cover it. If you don’t have a hand blender and want to use a regular blender, you can put all of the ingredients into the blender bowl/glass.

2. Mix the mixture by inserting the blade and turning on the machine. Please do it in a circular motion, trying to reach the bottom of the bowl so all of the ingredients are evenly blended. Continue blending until everything becomes smooth and no peanut chunks are left in the bowl.

You will notice a change in consistency in the mixture. It will feel a bit watery in the beginning, but towards the end, once the peanuts are broken down, the mixture will have a thicker consistency. That is one of the signs that stops the blending process.

1. In addition to marinating the mushroom with peanut sauce, we need to season and cook it with salt and turmeric powder to make it more yummy! So, we will start by sautéing the garlic until it is fragrant and adding the mushroom. Sprinkle with turmeric powder, then mix until the mushroom absorbs the turmeric powder and garlic fragrance.

2. Prepare your skewer and start putting the mushroom into the stick. Depending on the size of the mushroom, I usually put around 4-5 mushrooms per stick of this vegan mushroom satay. Continue doing it for all of the mushrooms!

3. Take a couple of spoons of the peanut sauce and put it on the surface of each of the mushroom sticks. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes for the mushroom to absorb it. Don’t use all the peanut sauce since you will need it as a dipping sauce. After that, you can bake it for 10-12 minutes at 180°C (~350°F).

4. Your vegan mushroom satay is ready. 🙂 Remember to use the peanut sauce as a dipping sauce. If you happen to have a fried shallot in your kitchen, you should sprinkle that on top of your satay after you dip it in peanut sauce!

Other recipes that you might love

• Spiced Tofu in Banana Leaves (Pepes Tahu)
• Vegan “Chicken” Noodle Soup