Gado - Gado (Mix Vegetable Salad with Peanut and Coconut Milk Sauce)

Gado-gado is  Indonesian signature dish. Gado-gado means mixture of every thing, so the name is self explanatory. It is a mixture of vegetable and indeed it is suitable for vegetarian. You would find this in many Indonesian Restaurant, most serve in many buffet party food (Indonesian Style) and certainly you will find in many Indonesian Recipe Book.

Actually you can choose any vegetable you like or what is available in your home, keep in the fridge for a long time provided you cook it well and also freeze well. So just make enough sauce and you can serve it any time you want either for lunch or dinner.

Though this recipe is quite common, there are quite a few way of making it and this is our version. If you live abroad, most ingredients for the sauce are not easy to find. My suggestion is to use substitute that easily found in local supermarket : Use peanut butter, smooth or crunchy (I prefer crunchy, so I get the bite), ready made Red Curry Paste (normally contain most of spices needed), brown sugar. Coconut milk is readily available. Now you just need to adjust the chilli, sugar and salt. Voile, that is Gado-Gado sauce, quick and easy to prepare.

Bahan-bahan untuk bumbu / Sauce Ingredients

500 gr kacang tanah, digoreng lalu diblender, saya suka agak kasar.

500 gr peanut, deep fry, ground, I prefer crunchy not too smooth

1000 ml  santan encer atau sedang

1000 ml light or medium coconut milk

50 gr  gula merah

50 gr palm sugar

5 lembar daun jeruk purut, buang tulang tengahnya

5 kaffir lime leaves, remove the vein

3 cm  lengkuas, memarkan

3 cm galangal, bruised

1 batang serai, memarkan

1 stalk lemon grass, bruised

2 sdm kecap manis Bango

2 tbsp sweet soy sauce

Garam secukupnya

Salt to taste

Minyak untuk menumis

Oil for sauteing

Bumbu yang dihaluskan / the paste

50 gr cabe merah, atau sesuai selera

50 gr red chilli, or to taste

3 siung bawang putih

3 cloves garlic

10 bawang merah

10 shallots (Indonesian shallots)

Membuat Bumbu Sauce Gado-Gado /  Preparing the Sauce

Tumis bumbu yang dihaluskan sampai harum, masukkan semua bahan aduk rata, biarkan mendidih selama 1 - 2 menit dan kecilkan api, lanjutkan memasan untuk 10 - 15 menit lagi sampai bumbu agak mengental.

Saute the paste until fragrant, add the rest of ingredients, bring to a boil for a couple of minutes then simmer for another 10-15 minutes or until the the sauce is thickened.

Sayuran dan Pelengkap  /  The condiments

Krupuk atau emping goreng

Garlic crackers or emping

Tahu digoreng dan potong dadu

Tofu, fried and diced

Tempe digoreng dan potong dadu

Tempe, fried and diced

Telur ayam direbus dan potong 4

Eggs, hard boiled and quartered

Kentang direbus, kupas dan potong dadu

Potato, boiled, peeled and diced

Daun Selada, sobek atau potong sesuai selera

Lettuce, tear or cut, to your taste

Wortel direbus dan dipotong atau mentah dan diserut

Carrot boiled and diced or raw and shaded

Tauge, dicelur

Bean sprout, blanched

Kol, iris kasar direbus, atau kol merah, rajang kasar mentah

Cabbage, roughly sliced and boiled or use raw red cabbage and roughly sliced