Matthew Woolen is a master pastry chef and has worked in a variety of Seattle restaurants, including gastropub Old Sage, Zhu Dang, and a gluten-free restaurant called Capitol Cider.

Matthew Woolen

Peanuts, fish sauce, lime, and chiles are a classic Southeast Asian combo that just works—the toasty richness of the nuts, the savoriness of the fish sauce, the bright acidity from the citrus, and the fiery heat of the chiles come together to give everything they touch a thrilling boost of flavor. It’s a perfect combo for a dipping sauce. This is a super-dippable riff on <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/easy-sauces-for-your-grilled-meats">the spicy peanut sauce we came up with for brushing onto grilled chicken</a>. The proportions of ingredients have been tweaked to give the sauce a little more viscosity so it clings a little better, maximizing the herbal-spicy-peanut hit in every dipped bite. It’s perfect for <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/fried-chicken-tenders">chicken tenders</a>, but also for anything that’s got nooks and crannies for grabbing onto the sauce—summer rolls, spring rolls, skewered meats, you name it!

Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce