Gado-gado (salad with peanut sauce)

There are many dishes served with peanut sauce. In Indonesia, none is more famous than gado-gado.

You can eat gado-gado on its own, but it's also a great side dish. The peanut sauce will last for up to 5 days, but once tossed, it's best eaten the same day. Credit: Louise Hagger

• serves

  2

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Gado-gado literally translates from Indonesian as 'mix-mix'. It comes from the word menggado, which is to consume something without rice, a rarity in this country.

You can easily substitute the suggested vegetables with whatever you have on hand. The key to this dish is a good peanut sauce and a hefty helping of kerupuk or prawn crackers. 

Ingredients

• 60 g fried, firm or smoked tofu, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 150 g baby potatoes, halved
• 100 g tender-stem broccoli
• 100 g green beans, trimmed
• 60 g tempeh, sliced into 1cm wide x 3cm long
• chunks (optional, or replace with more tofu) kecap manis, for grilling (optional)
• 2 quantities of peanut sauce (recipe here)
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into long, thin matchsticks 75g bean sprouts
• ½ cucumber, sliced into thin rounds
• 16 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 eggs, hard-boiled for 10 minutes, halved
• 2 tbsp fried shallots, optional
• Sea salt, to taste
• Coconut oil or sunflower oil, for frying
• Kerupuk or prawn crackers, to serve

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side.

Instructions

1. If the tofu is wet, spread the pieces in a single layer on top of several layers of paper towels, then cover with additional paper towels. Let the tofu stand for 15 minutes, pressing down occasionally to squeeze out any excess moisture.
2. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil over a high heat and add the baby potatoes. Simmer for 5–8 minutes, until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain and allow to cool, then set aside.
3. Refill the pan with salted water, bring to the boil and blanch the broccoli and beans for 1–2 minutes until bright green, crisp and just cooked through. Drain and cool in cold water, then set aside.
4. Heat 4 tablespoons of oil with a large pinch of salt in a wok or frying pan over a high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the tempeh and fry for 3–4 minutes until golden.
5. Drain on a tray lined with paper towels. Alternatively, if you prefer to grill tempeh, brush it with a mixture of 1 tablespoon each of oil and kecap manis and place it under the grill on a high heat for 3–4 minutes each side.
6. Loosen the peanut sauce with water until it reaches a pourable consistency. Transfer the peanut sauce to a pan and place it over a low heat until just warmed through.
7. Arrange the baby potatoes, broccoli, beans, tofu, tempeh, carrot, bean sprouts, cucumber, tomatoes and eggs on individual serving plates or bowls.
8. Sprinkle with the fried shallots and place the crackers on one side of the plate. Serve the peanut sauce on the side in a serving bowl or jug or drizzle generously over the top of each plate, as I like to do. Serve immediately.
   

 

Recipe extracted from Coconut & Sambal: Recipes from My Indonesian Kitchen (Bloomsbury Publishing).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Gado-gado literally translates from Indonesian as 'mix-mix'. It comes from the word menggado, which is to consume something without rice, a rarity in this country.

You can easily substitute the suggested vegetables with whatever you have on hand. The key to this dish is a good peanut sauce and a hefty helping of kerupuk or prawn crackers.