Gado-gado (Indonesian Salad with Peanut Sauce)
Gado-gado is a vegetable salad with a peanut sauce dressing.
Total Time
40 minutes
Servings
4
1 g terasi (fermented prawn paste)
Vegetable oil
300 g peanuts
Fresh or dried chile pepper
1 clove garlic
Salt
125 g gula jawa (Indonesian palm sugar)
4 shallots
Sugar
Fresh lime juice or rice vinegar
Hard-boiled eggs, sliced
Whole potatoes, steamed or boiled
Mixed vegetables (e.g. cabbage, bean sprouts, cucumber, chayote, water spinach, asparagus bean, spinach)
Deep fried soybean cake
Deep fried tempeh
Deep fried kerupuk (fish or prawn crackers)
Deep fried shallot
Fry prawn paste with vegetable oil until fragrant.
Fry the peanuts until golden brown. Remove from the pan and leave to cool, then drain off all but a little of the excess oil.
Grind the peanuts to a paste.
Add ground chili pepper, garlic, salt, sugar, and prawn paste to the peanut paste. Grind to mix.
Put peanut paste in a pan, add some water to dissolve (use coconut milk for a richer taste).
Add additional sugar into the peanut sauce to taste, and bring to the boil.
Simmer peanut sauce until thick, and season with the lime juice or vinegar.
Remove the skin from the boiled potatoes. Deep fry the potatoes until golden brown, then slice.
Wash, shred, or chop cabbage, spinach, and water spinach.
Boil water in a pan. Add cabbage, and cook until tender. Drain.
Use strained boiling water to boil the spinach and water spinach, one after another. Drain.
Blanch bean sprouts for about 30 seconds. Drain.
30 seconds
Peel chayote, wash, slice, and boil until tender.
Wash and slice cucumber.
Place the salad, sliced potatoes, fried tofu, fried tempeh, and eggs in a large plate, either randomly or in layers.
Pour the peanut sauce over the salad.
Spread deep fried shallots on top, and serve with kerupuk.
- â˘Prawn crackers are non-vegetarian. You can substitute them with kerupuk sayur or emping if you wish this dish to be completely vegetarian.
- â˘Add some kecap manis (Malay/Indonesian sweet soy sauce) to taste.
- â˘You may substitute the peanut sauce recipe for the procedure here.
- â˘cashew nuts is secret ingredient to make peanut sauce tastes richer.
- â˘Some cooks like to blanche or steam the cabbage, cauliflower, and carrots rather than serve them raw.
- â˘Use chunky peanut butter as substitute for ground peanuts.
- â˘Use chili sauce to substitute fresh or dried chili pepper.
- â˘Cauliflower, green beans, watercress, carrots, tomatoes, or peas are sometimes included but less common.