Lara Lee's Gado-Gado Salad With Peanut Sauce
Gado-Gado
Makes 2 servings
You can eat this dish on its own, but it also makes a great side dish as part of a larger feast. The peanut sauce will last for up to five days, but once tossed together, gado-gadois best eaten on the same day.
There are many dishes served with peanut sauce in Indonesia, but none is more famous than gado-gado, which literally translates from Indonesian as ‘mix-mix’. It also comes from the word menggado, which is to consume something without rice, a rarity in Indonesia. 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 kerupukor prawn crackers.
Image Credits
Photo by Louise Hagger
ingredients
- 60 grams fried, firm, or smoked tofu, cut into bite-sized chunks
- 150 grams baby potatoes, halved
- 100 grams tender stem broccoli
- 100 grams green beans, trimmed
- Coconut oil or sunflower oil, for frying
- 60 grams tempeh, sliced into 1 centimeter wide x 3 centimeter long chunks (optional, can be replaced with more tofu)
- Kecap manis for grilling (optional)
- 300 grams Peanut Sauce (see recipe below)
- 1 carrot, peeled and cut into long, thin matchsticks
- 75 grams bean sprouts
- 1⁄2 cucumber, sliced into thin rounds
- 16 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 eggs, hard-boiled for 10 minutes, halved
- 2 tablespoons fried shallots (optional)
- Sea salt, to taste
- Kerupuk or prawn crackers, to serve
method
- 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.
- Bring a pan of salted water to a boil over a high heat and add the baby potatoes. Simmer for 5 to 8 minutes, until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain and allow to cool, then set aside.
- Refill the pan with salted water, bring to a boil and blanch the broccoli and beans for 1 to 2 minutes until bright green, crisp, and just cooked through. Drain and cool in cold water, then set aside.
- 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 to 4 minutes until golden. 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 to 4 minutes each side.
- 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.
- Arrange the baby potatoes, broccoli, beans, tofu, tempeh, carrot, bean sprouts, cucumber, tomatoes, and eggs on individual serving plates or bowls. 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.
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PEANUT SAUCE
Makes 150 gramsingredients
Sunflower oil, for frying
75 grams unsalted, raw peanuts, preferably with their skin on (or 75 grams unsweetened, unsalted smooth peanut butter)
2 long red chillies, deseeded and very finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
4 teaspoons kecap manis, or more to taste
2 teaspoons tamarind paste (or 2 teaspoons lime juice mixed with 2 teaspoons brown sugar)
Large pinch of sea salt
method
If using raw peanuts, heat 150 milliliters of oil to 160°C in a deep saucepan over high heat. If you do not have a kitchen thermometer, check the oil is at temperature by adding a cube of bread; it should turn golden in 25 to 30 seconds. Carefully lower the peanuts into the hot oil using a slotted spoon. Stirring continuously, as peanuts can easily burn, fry for 4 to 5 minutes until golden. Remove the peanuts from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a tray lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the chillies and garlic and fry until softened, about 4 minutes. Place the fried peanuts or peanut butter in a small food processor with the cooked garlic and chillies, kecap manis, tamarind paste, and salt. Pulse briefly, then add a splash of water to loosen the sauce and pulse again. Gradually add water (about 4 tablespoons) and continue to pulse until the sauce is a pourable consistency. Season with salt or more kecap manis as needed.
