Whole Peanut Garnish

Whole Peanut Garnish
Southeast Asia

Roasted peanuts, whole or crushed, are a much used garnish throughout Southeast Asia, plain or with added ingredients. This garnish is easy to make and looks good. The photo shows it on a noodle dish with a bed of chopped cilantro laid down first.

1/2
1
3
1/4
1

c

cl
c
T

Dry Roasted Peanuts (1)
Chili, fresh (2)
Garlic
Cilantro
Oil

Make your Dry Roasted Peanuts. This can be done even a few days in advanced and you can make enough for several uses. The method is given in our recipe Dry Roasted Peanuts.
Chop the CHILI fine. Crush the GARLIC with the flat side of your prep knife, then slice crosswise fairly coarse. Mix.
Chop CILANTRO medium. The measure is lightly packed after chopping.
Heat Oil in a skillet over moderate flame and fry Chili mix, stirring until the Garlic just starts to show some color, then stir in the Peanuts until well warmed.
Keep warm until needed. Alternatively you can reheat when needed.
To use, lay down a bed of Cilantro and spoon some Peanuts over.

NOTES:

Peanuts: Yes, you want to go to the trouble of dry roasting your own peanuts - the resulting flavor and texture are sufficiently different from commercial roasted peanuts to make it worthwhile. For method see Dry Roasted Peanuts.
Chili: The sample shown is made with a red Fresno chili, but you can use Serranos (hotter) or whatever chili and amount you prefer.
U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch