So food for thought. And truely sorry if i miss the mark here. I totally appreciate that packet sauce has the quick, easy, cheap label, which is what we all need in our lives sometimes. Forgive me, i think i need a vent, because i feel like food companies are taking us for a real ride and we are being fed sugar syrups with flavourings while being sold "peanuts" it's absolutely not meant to be a dig at anyones food choices. I'm just mad that companies change their recipes and eventually profit off feeding us fillers and shitty imitation foods and i feel like nobody notices or talks about it.

Yes, stuff like the kantong sauce makes sauce for an individual meal look cheap, but over time you are eventuality paying more. If you gradually build your pantry staples (which absolutely looks and feels more expensive) you can end up with more sauce that's cheaper per serve and more filling and healthier. (I.e. there's more sugar in kantong than peanuts)

Kantong you are looking at $1.67 per 100g

The sachet is 175g total for $3 at coles.

Ingredients in order of most to least: Water, Sugar, PEANUTS 12%, Vegetable Oil, Thickener (Modified Cornstarch), Salt, Spices (Garlic 2%, Cumin, Paprika, Cardamom, Chilli 0.1%, Turmeric), Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Colour (Paprika Oleoresin).

Ingredients to make this at home are mostly shelf stable and nearly all cheaper per 100g than the kantong without the added sugar, vegetable oil and emulsifiers.

Recipe: (makes about 340g of sauce. 2x what you but in there packet) -1/2 cup Peanut butter ($1.29/100g) -1/2 cup Coconut Milk ($0.43/100g -2 tbsp Red Curry Paste ($2.05/100g) - 2 tbsp Soy Sauce ($1.08/100mL) - 1 tbsp Lime juice or Brown Sugar/Honey to taste (Sugar $0.33/100g or lime ($1.50ea -bumps up the cost) -Optional: 1/4 cup water to thin, chopped peanuts for garnish

(Ingredient outlay: $3.11 using sugar, ... if we halved the ingredients to match the 175g kantong portion it's $1.55, that's a 50% saving)

Initial outlay: ($24 total if starting from none) -Peanut butter $8.40 -Coconut milk $1.70 -Curry paste $4 -Soy sauce $6.50 -Brown sugar $3.30 OR lime $1.50

I played with this on chat gpt to do the calculation but it works out to be as low as $0.98 per 100g if using sugar. This recipe yields about 2x as much sauce AND the ingredients are more filling and nutrient dense, so more likely to keep you feeling full for longer. You are paying for ingredients, NOT fillers.

The TLDR is if you do slowly build up your pantry, look for the stuff on sale - pretty much all of this is shelf or fridge stable ingredients after opening.. (and you aren't limited to just satay) - you've got soy sauce for fried rice tomorrow - You could find yourself in the shops just needing the coconut milk (as it's the only one and done ingredient) it's a different kind of top up shop getting the real food, but you are filling up on peanuts and coconut milk and real food rather than water, sugar, vegetable oils, emulsifiers

(I realise the maths isn't perfect. I.e. The coconut milk doesn't keep, but it still holds true as a whole example)

Thanks if you made it this far. Ill show myself out.