What to use instead of peanuts
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Ground into a sauce for body and richness
Peanuts are about half fat and a quarter protein, so ground they emulsify into a thick sauce and stop a satay or gado-gado dressing tasting watery.
Smooth natural peanut butterRan out
1/2 cup peanut butter per 3/4 cup roasted peanuts
Faster and smoother than grinding. Sweetened brands add sugar, so cut the palm sugar by a tablespoon.
Sunflower seed butterNut-free
1:1 by volume with peanut butter
Thickens the same and tastes greener and more bitter. It can turn a pale sauce grey-green if there is any baking soda nearby.
TahiniNut-free
3/4 cup tahini per 1 cup ground peanuts
Thinner and more bitter with no sweetness. Add 1 tsp sugar and expect a Sichuan flavour rather than a Thai one.
Cashew butterRan out
1:1 by volume with peanut butter
Sweeter, milder and paler, so the sauce loses its roasted edge. It blends the smoothest of anything here.
Toasted pumpkin seeds, groundNut-free
1:1 by volume with whole peanuts
Grinds to a coarse paste rather than a smooth one, so the sauce stays textured. Distinctly green in colour and taste.
What doesn't work: Almond butter in a satay or gado-gado. It is far less sweet and much more astringent, so the sauce goes chalky and needs so much sugar and salt to correct that it stops tasting of nut at all.
Crunchy topping scattered over a finished dish
Chopped roasted peanuts hold their crunch against soft noodles or a wet salad for a few minutes and add salt and roast at the same time.
Toasted cashews, choppedRan out
1:1 by volume
Softer crunch and sweeter. They go soft in a wet dish faster than peanuts, so scatter them at the table.
Toasted sunflower seedsNut-free
3/4 the volume
Smaller pieces, so the crunch is even rather than punchy. Untoasted they taste raw and green.
Fried shallots or fried garlicNut-free
half the volume
Crisp and savoury rather than nutty, and they soften within a minute or two once they hit anything wet.
Toasted rice powderNut-free
2 tbsp per 1/4 cup peanuts
Sandy rather than crunchy, and it thickens the dressing it lands in. Som tum uses it alongside the nuts anyway.
What doesn't work: Raw peanuts out of the bag. They are soft and squeaky and taste of green bean, and no quantity of them delivers the roast flavour the dish is asking for. Toast them dry for 8 minutes at 175C first.