Keep It Nutty

• Roasted cashews provide that same nutty taste and smooth creaminess as peanuts, but may be safe for those with peanut allergies if they are not also allergic to tree nuts. To make a cashew sauce, process the nuts to a fine grind and add about 1/4 cup of brown sugar for each cup of nuts. Then add minced garlic, dried shrimp paste, a chopped chile pepper or dash of hot sauce, a dash of cider vinegar, enough coconut milk to make a sauce and salt to taste.

Try Tahini

• Used in Middle Eastern cooking to flavor hummus, tahini is a thick paste made from sesame seeds with a consistency very similar to peanut butter and a nutty, sesame flavor. Use light tahini, rather than the dark variety; it has a milder flavor. Tahini sauce typically contains minced garlic and a combination of lemon juice and water to thin the paste. You can add a dash of fish sauce and hot sauce and substitute lime for lemon juice if you want.

Keep the Coconut Flavor

• Coconut milk provides a large part of the flavor in peanut sauce, so making a sauce with coconut milk alone also works well, especially for beef satay. Flavor coconut milk with a few tablespoons each of brown sugar, fish sauce and vegetable oil. Then add minced shallots, grated fresh ginger, some coriander, red pepper flakes or hot sauce, ground cumin and salt to taste. You can also use this dipping sauce to baste the meat, but keep basting sauce and dipping sauce in separate bowls to avoid contamination.

It's a Barbecue After All

• Your favorite barbecue sauce can work with satay; you can also add Asian flavors to the sauce, such as a few teaspoons of fish sauce or soy sauce, some minced garlic and some brown sugar. Or add a small amount of tamarind concentrate or tamarind puree along with the Asian ingredients. Tamarind, the fruit pod of the tamarind tree, provides a sour-sweet, slightly citrus flavor to dishes such as pad Thai, Asian chutneys and Asian pickled fish.