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Gado Gado (Indonesian salad with peanut sauce)

The basic gado-gado recipe is flexible. This dish can be made with any combination of vegetables, making it perfect for anyone's taste.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Dressing
Cuisine: Bali, Indonesian
Servings: 4 servings

Equipment

  • 1 Saucepan
  • 1 Blender or food processor
  • 1 Colander
  • 1 Platter

Ingredients

Gado Gado Dressing

  • 1 cup natural peanut butter
  • 4 cloves garlic crushed
  • 1-5 bird’s eye or Thai chilies seeded (more or less to heat preference)
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1 tablespoon palm sugar
  • 1 teaspoon tamarind pulp soaked in 2 tablespoons of warm water to get the juice
  • 1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce kecap manis
  • 2 cups hot water

Gado-Gado Salad

  • 2-3 peeled hard-boiled eggs quartered
  • 400 g new potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
  • 1/2 cucumber sliced on the diagonal
  • 2 ripe tomatoes cut into wedges
  • 1/2 Chinese cabbage shredded
  • 2 cups green beans, sliced
  • 2 cups bean sprouts

Instructions

Gado-Gado Dressing

  • Place ingredients into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.
  • Add mixture to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.
  • Cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly until it thickens. You should be able to drizzle it. If it's too thick, you can thin it with a little water.

Gado-Gado Salad

  • Bring a saucepan of water to the boil.
  • Bring a kettle of water to boil.
  • Add potatoes and boil for 5 minutes or until cooked through.
  • Use a slotted spoon to remove potatoes to a colander to drain.
  • Cut Chinese cabbage into 2" slices, place in a colander, and slowly pour the kettle of boiling water over the top. This will soften the cabbage but keep a nice crunch.
  • Cook beans until tender-crisp or slightly wilted.
  • Drain and press out excess water.

Assembly

  • Place vegetables onto a serving plate, and top with egg.
  • Drizzle half the dressing over the salad. Pour the rest into a serving bowl.
  • Serve the dressing on the side along with bowls of crushed peanuts and sliced fresh chilies for sprinkling.

Notes

Vegetables and eggs can be served warm or at room temperature
The sauce should be served warm (it thickens as it cools).
Substitutions
Chilies: substitute red pepper flakes to taste (start with 1/2 tsp.)
Palm sugar: substitute coconut sugar or brown sugar
Tamarind pulp: substitute equal parts of rice wine vinegar and brown sugar
Sweet soy sauce:  mix one part molasses with two parts soy sauce