Recipes › Gado-Gado

Gado-Gado

Gado-gado is often described as a salad, which undersells it. The vegetables are blanched rather than raw, and the warm peanut dressing is thick, savoury and slightly sweet. Eaten with rice cakes or crackers, it is a full meal rather than a side.

Ingredients

• 250 g green beans, trimmed
• 250 g cabbage, shredded
• 200 g beansprouts
• 2 medium potatoes, boiled and sliced
• 300 g firm tofu, cubed
• 200 g tempeh, sliced
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• For the dressing: 250 g roasted peanuts, unsalted
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 red chillies, deseeded
• 2 tablespoons palm sugar or brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
• 200 ml coconut milk or water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• To serve: lontong or rice cakes, prawn crackers, fried shallots

Method

1. Blanch the green beans for 2 minutes, the cabbage for 1 minute, and the beansprouts for 30 seconds. Plunge each into cold water immediately to stop the cooking and keep the colour. Drain well and set aside.
2. Shallow-fry the tofu and tempeh in the oil over medium heat until golden on all sides, about 4 minutes per side. Drain on paper.
3. For the dressing, blend the peanuts, garlic and chillies into a coarse paste, keeping some texture.
4. Warm the paste in a pan over low heat with the sugar, sweet soy sauce, tamarind and salt. Add the coconut milk gradually, stirring, until you have a thick but pourable dressing. This takes about 5 minutes. Do not boil it hard or it splits.
5. Arrange the blanched vegetables, potato, tofu and tempeh on a platter or in individual bowls.
6. Pour the warm dressing over the top, or serve it on the side for dipping.
7. Finish with fried shallots and serve with lontong or crackers.

Notes and tips

• Drain the blanched vegetables well. Watery vegetables thin the dressing and the plate turns into soup.
• Keep the dressing warm. Cold peanut dressing becomes stiff and grainy.
• Tempeh benefits from a quick steam before frying if it tastes bitter — 5 minutes over simmering water is enough.
• For a vegan version, the dressing is already plant-based; just check the crackers.
• The dressing keeps three days refrigerated and loosens with warm water when reheated.

Questions

Can I use peanut butter instead of peanuts?

In a hurry, yes. Use about 150 g of plain unsweetened peanut butter and skip the grinding stage. The flavour is flatter but acceptable.

What is lontong and can I substitute it?

Lontong is compressed cooked rice cake. If unavailable, use sticky rice, plain steamed rice, or even good bread.

Can I make gado-gado ahead?

Blanch the vegetables and make the dressing in advance, but keep them separate and reheat the dressing gently before serving.

Is gado-gado served hot or cold?

Warm. The vegetables are at room temperature or slightly warm and the dressing is warm. It is not a chilled salad.

Cooked it? Tell us how it went on the contact page — corrections and regional variations are always welcome.