The "Everything Sauce" That Saves My Ass Multiple Times a Week

May it save yours too

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In my house, every lunch is debated. Do we have our bastardised huevos rancheros or a kimchi rice bowl? Do we want soup or Turkish eggs? Will we spend the next hour talking about it?

Yes. Yes we will.

Despite all the chat, some stalwarts rear their head at least once a week, often more.

One of them is what I’ve recently dubbed our Everything Sauce.

Not because it has everything in it but because it can go on everything.

For a long time, it was called “that peanutty-soy sauce” because peanut butter and soy form the base and it seems neither of us has much in the way of imagination.

What do you want on your noodles? That peanutty-soy sauce.

Any ideas for a salad dressing? That peanutty-soy sauce.

The sauce fits very nicely into the Capsule Pantry wheelhouse because a) it’s made with storecupboard ingredients b) it’s highly flexible and adaptable to your taste and c) it goes on, well, everything.

Like so many recipes that grow organically over time in one’s kitchen, I often measure the Everything Sauce by eye, which isn’t much use for you. So this week I spent a good deal of time in the kitchen testing as many variations as I could.

Testing day

Bases were made and tested. Additions were added. Husbands were roped into tasting. Between us, we came up with what we believe to be the definitive Everything Sauce.

The base is soy and peanut butter, mixed until it becomes a thick paste laden with umami. I add something to bring acidity (often rice vinegar) and a flavoured oil to add depth and extra flavour. My personal favourite is homemade Szechuan chilli oil. They say the numbing sensation of Szechuan peppercorns is addictive and if the way I use my constant batch of oil is anything to go by, I would say they’re right.

But like I say. There’s room in this sauce for everyone’s tastes. Through this week’s testing, I experimented with different acids, different oils and different ratios of peanut butter and soy and literally none of them were terrible. In fact they were all freaking great.

Such is the genius of a sauce like this.

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Before we get to the recipe…

…I have two announcements for you.

First, my 30% off offer is still going strong. This brings the cost of a full Capsule Pantry subscription down to $35 a year or $3.50 a month which is as little as $0.70 a week.

Free subscribers get one free recipe a month (today is December’s) but paid subscribers get access to the whole of The Capsule Pantry. That includes the archive of over 100 recipes as well as new recipes, essays and tips every single week. And you can ask me anything you like about substitutions or cooking in the comments. I’m at your disposal.

I want you to learn how to cook using a smaller number of ingredients. I want to teach you how to make successful recipe substitutions based on that pantry. It’s what I’m here for.

Also makes a great gift…

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If wine is your thing, read on

Some of you may know that my background is in wine. For nearly 8 years I owned what was once awarded the UK’s best independent wine store (and bar). Nowadays I write about wine culture over at Medium but I’ve been looking for a more practical way to work with it.

Which is why, along with my husband Sam (who co-owned said store and bar with me) I’ve launched a remote recommendation service called SommAnywhere.

Tell me what you like to drink and where you live, and we’ll send you a list of the best places local-to-you and online stores that will deliver to you, and lists of which wines you should buy from them.

You'll also get a list of wine regions we think you'll love AND our favourite wineries from each. This is like access to our little black book of wineries, those we can't help but buy when we see them. A list we’ve spent 10+ years compiling and curating.

Corporate and personal gifting is available and welcomed. The service is available in USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

I’ve had some great feedback from people who have already been kind enough to sign up. If it sounds up your street, get over there:

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Everything Sauce

Enough for one person. Adjust as you need.

• 1 generous tablespoon of crunchy or smooth peanut butter

• 1 generous tablespoon of light soy sauce

• 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar

• 1 generous teaspoon Szechuan chilli oil

Put the peanut butter and soy sauce into a mug and whisk until it becomes a homogenous paste. This might take a minute or two. Add the vinegar and the chilli oil. Mix.

Think of this sauce as having three components:

• The base (soy sauce and peanut butter)

• The vinegar (for acidity)

• The oil (for depth of flavour and richness)

Don’t forget to substitute like for like.

Substitutions

Swap the peanut butter for Tahini. I’ll often do this to switch up the flavour profile or when I run out of peanut butter.

Use coconut aminos if you can’t eat soy.

If you want a richer sauce, add a little bit of dark soy sauce to the mix.

I’ll often swap the rice vinegar for other acids including:

• Fresh lime or lemon juice

• Sherry vinegar (which reminds me of another classic Szechuan ingredient, Shaoxing wine).

Swap the Szechuan chilli oil for:

• Other chilli oils, either storebought or homemade

• Toasted sesame oil

If I have it in my fridge, I’ll often add red miso paste. Around a teaspoon per person works well.

You can also add extras including:

• Crushed garlic

• Finely chopped ginger

• Finely chopped cilantro / coriander

• Finely chopped fresh chilli

• Dried chilli flakes

The Everything Sauce can go on or with, well, everything:

Soup

Thin out the dressing with stock until it becomes a broth. Drop in anything from cooked noodles or rice to fried ground beef or finely shredded vegetables and call it lunch.

Marinated tofu

Cut firm tofu into cubes, dredge in seasoned flour and shallow fry for 5-10 minutes until golden. Drain on paper towel then toss in the Everything Sauce very slightly thinned with a teaspoon or so of water.

Tofu tossed in Everything Sauce

Marinated meats

• Rub it into pork chops before grilling.

• Ditto chicken thighs or breasts.

• Ditto steaks.

Grain bowls

During the summer my doctor had me on a diet that included a lot of wholegrains so this salad became my daily lunch.

I cooked spelt until it was soft but chewy (around 45 minutes). I finely chopped whatever vegetables I had in the fridge using a mini food processor. Cabbage made a frequent appearance as did carrots, bell peppers, courgettes and tomatoes.

Make a batch of Everything Sauce. Mix in the vegetables and spelt. If you’re a meal prep sort of person, this is for you.

Rice bowls

Similar to the grain bowl above but with cooked rice. Featured in the header image for this recipe.

Stir-fry sauce

Thin out with a small amount of water or stock and you my friend have a stir-fry sauce to knock the socks off store-bought.

Snack idea - Everything Sauce and sliced apples

This is a “don’t knock it until you’ve tried it” kind of thing. Apple and peanut butter is a perfectly acceptable combination and I’ve become rather curious about Szechuan chilli oil with fruits. The soy sauce essentially makes it like turbo-charged peanut butter.

Yeah I know how it looks, but trust me

🥑 AND THAT’S ALL SHE WROTE. If you want more, check out the The Sauce archive.

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🥑 DO YOU WINE? If you do but struggle to know what to buy in your local area, I can help. SommAnywhere is my personalised wine recommendation service based on 10+ years in the wine trade. You fill out a quick quiz, I’ll tell you exactly what you should be buying and from where. Discounts for paid subscribers to The Sauce are available.

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