Gado-Gado: Indonesian Salad with Peanut Sauce Dressing
This recipe is brought to you by: Cindy's Kitchen UK
Indonesian & Asian food specialist based in Winslow - MK18 3FP
A vibrant mix of raw, slightly boiled, blanched, or steamed vegetables, fried tempeh & tofu, boiled potato, and hard-boiled eggs, all served with a rich peanut sauce dressing.
Ingredients:
For the Peanut Sauce Dressing:
3 big red chilies, sliced (reduce to 1 if you prefer less spice)
1-2 bird's eye chilies (optional for extra heat)
100g coconut sugar, shaved
200g groundnuts/cashews (fried or oven-roasted until golden)
1 tsp salt (adjust to taste)
2 kaffir lime leaves
2 tbsp sweet soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce if needed)
2 cm lesser galangal, sliced (optional but recommended)
1 tsp tamarind (adjust to taste)
4 garlic cloves, sliced
3 shallots, sliced
300 ml water
Vegetable oil (for frying)
For the Salad:
Spinach and/or spring greens, lightly blanched
Sweetcorn (optional)
Fine/green beans, chopped & boiled
White cabbage, lightly blanched
Cucumber, sliced & quartered
Tempeh and/or tofu, sliced and lightly fried
1 medium potato, peeled & boiled
1 hard-boiled egg, peeled (optional for vegan version)
Beansprouts, lightly blanched
Garnish:
Fried shallots
Crackers
Method:
Peanut Sauce Dressing:
Fry Aromatics: h
eat a little vegetable oil over medium heat and shallow-fry the garlic, shallots, red chilies, and galangal until softened. Set aside.
Blend the Ingredients in a food processor, combine the fried aromatics, groundnuts, salt, coconut sugar, sweet soy sauce, and tamarind. Blend until smooth.
Cook the Peanut Sauce: heat about 30 ml of vegetable oil in a non-stick pan over low-medium heat. Add the blended peanut sauce mixture and stir regularly. Add the kaffir lime leaves and continue to cook until the sauce darkens. Slowly add the water, stirring constantly, and cook until the sauce starts to bubble. Adjust seasoning to taste.