Gado Gado (Indonesian Salad with Peanut Sauce)
User Reviews
4.9
78 reviews
Excellent
-
Prep Time
15 mins
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Cook Time
15 mins
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Servings
2
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Calories
572 kcal
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Course
Side Dish, Main Course
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Cuisine
Indonesian
Gado Gado (Indonesian Salad with Peanut Sauce)
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Recipe video above. Fun to say, delicious to eat, the Gado Gado peanut sauce will make any vegetables into a big, healthy, tasty meal! Use any veg you want - the ones I've used are in the spirit of traditional Indonesian Gado Gado. Using Thai Red Curry Paste is an effective shortcut - it uses a lot of the ingredients used in Gado Gado sauce. Saves time, effort and money!All the veg can be warm or at room temp, so cook them first. Tempeh/tofu is best hot and crispy fresh out of the skillet.
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Ingredients
Gado Gado Sauce:
- 1/3 cup natural peanut butter, smooth or crunchy (your choice) (Note 1)
- 4 tsp red curry paste , store bought (Maesri brand best, Note 2)
- 3 tsp kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce, Note 3)
- 1 tsp Sambal Oelak or other chilli paste (adjust spiciness to taste)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large garlic clove , pressed using garlic press (~ 3/4 tsp)
- 1 1/2 tbsp lime juice (Note 4)
- 1/2 cup coconut milk , full fat (Ayam brand best)
- 1/2 cup water
Salad (use any veg, Note 5):
- 1 bunch spinach , roots trimmed
- 4 cups beansprouts
- 200g / 7 oz potato - small halved, large peeled chopped 2 cm / 1" cubes OR 1.5cm / 1/2" slices
- 1 cucumber , sliced on the diagonal ( or 1/2 long cucumber ie Telegraph/English)
- 2 boiled eggs , peeled and halved
- 15 prawn crackers , optional (Note 6)
Crispy Tempeh (or tofu):
- 2 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
- 200g / 7 oz tempeh (or firm tofu, Note 7)
Garnishes:
- 1 tbsp finely chopped peanuts (highly recommended)
- red chilli , finely sliced, optional (small = spicy, large = less spicy)
Instructions
Gado Gado Peanut Sauce:
- Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Bring to simmer then cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly so the bottom doesn't catch, until it thickens. If too thick, just add more water - should be able to drizzle it (see video for thickness).
- Taste and adjust as follows: lime for more sour, salt, sugar for sweet.
- Cover and keep warm.
Blanched Vegetables:
- Bring a saucepan of water to the boil.
- Add potatoes and cook for 5 minutes or until cooked through. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to colander to drain.
- Cook beansprouts for 3 minutes or until just wilted. Transfer to colander, press out excess water.
- Add spinach, push under to submerge - will instantly wilt. Remove, transfer to colander, press out excess water.
Crispy tempeh or tofu:
- Slice into 0.75 x 5 cm / 1/3 x 2" slices (or thereabouts).
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook tempeh 2 min on each side until deep golden and crispy. (Tofu ~ 1 1/2 min)
Assemble:
- Either make one platter for sharing, or individual. Vegetables and egg can be served warm or at room temp, sauce should be served warm (it thickens when cool).
- Place vegetables and tempeh on serving plate, top with egg.
- Pour sauce into serving bowl.
- Serve Gado Gado Salad with peanut sauce, peanuts for sprinkling, fresh chillies and prawn crackers on the side.
Notes
- Peanut butter - use natural / pure peanut butter with no added sugar, oil or other additives. It has a more intense peanut flavour so the sauce is tastier. If you use Kraft or another peanut butter spread with sugar etc added, it's still tasty but:
- a) the sauce won't be as peanutty (and if you add more, sauce will be too thick); andb) skip kecap manis, use dark soy instead, otherwise the peanut sauce will be too sweet.
- Red Curry Paste - regular readers know I am very loyal to Maesri brand Thai Curry pastes! By far the best available to the general public (here in Australia), and also happens to be the cheapest. Little tins ~$1.50, sold at large Woolworths, Coles, all Harris Farms and Asian stores. I use it for Red, Green and Massaman Curry (also the epic Lamb Shank Massaman from Friday!).
- Kecap Manis (sometimes called Ketjap Manis) is an Indonesian sweet soy sauce that is thicker than other soy sauces. Sometimes just labelled as "sweet soy sauce". Consistency resembles maple syrup, available in most supermarkets in Australia (Woolworths, Coles, Harris Farms).
- Easy sub for this recipe: 2 tsp dark soy sauce plus 1 tbsp honey.
- Also use for Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice), Mie Goreng (noodles), Indonesian Satay Chicken.
- Lime subs - or 1 tbsp cider vinegar, or 2 tsp white vinegar.
- Vegetables:
- Prawn crackers - traditionally served on the side, great crunch factor / to build bites. Either buy them or make (sold in large Aussie grocery stores in Asian section). Make per packet by frying OR make a NO FAT version using the microwave - place 8 to 10 around the edges of turntable, microwave 20 to 30 seconds. They will puff up and be crispy, just like they're fried!
- Tempeh - traditional Indonesian ingredient made from fermented soy beans, it's like really firm tofu except it tastes nutty (sort of like sunflower seeds). Pan fries golden with a beautiful crispy outside. Vegetarians are mad for it! Best served hot out of the skillet - it is very addictive (especially with the peanut sauce!).
- Tofu - dust with flour to make crispy. Pat dry, sprinkle with table salt and pepper, then just before cooking, dust lightly with flour.
- Tofu - dust with flour to make crispy. Pat dry, sprinkle with table salt and pepper, then just before cooking, dust lightly with flour.
- Storage - makes more sauce than you will need (hard to make less), keeps 5 days in the fridge or 3 months in freezer. Use it for a quick veg side salad, or dunking!
- Reheating cooked veg - spinach and beansprouts leach water when reheated, so reheat them separately before plating up.
- Nutrition per serving, assuming half the sauce is used (it's about 1/3 cup per serve - quite generous!). Most of the calories is in the sauce due to the peanuts, then the oil for cooking the tempeh, then egg and potato. This is a filling serve for a main course!
- Spinach - hard to measure, I use one whole standard bunch sold at the supermarkets (a big standard bunch). Diameter of the stems of the bunch is around the size of a tennis ball. It will look like a lot but will wilt down about 80% in volume.
- Beansprouts - again, hard to measure! Use 2 big handfuls.
- Other vegetables - blanched: carrot (diagonal slice), green beans, broccoli/broccolini, cauliflower, asparagus, any Asian greens, cabbage (fairly finely sliced), zucchini, corn, baby corn, kale, silverbeet/Swiss chard, sweet potato, pumpkin.
- Raw veg: tomato wedges or cherry tomatoes, radish.
Nutrition Information
Show Details
Calories
572cal
(29%)
Carbohydrates
48g
(16%)
Protein
32g
(64%)
Fat
33g
(51%)
Saturated Fat
10g
(50%)
Cholesterol
187mg
(62%)
Sodium
502mg
(21%)
Potassium
1796mg
(51%)
Fiber
10g
(40%)
Sugar
15g
(30%)
Vitamin A
8232IU
(165%)
Vitamin C
77mg
(86%)
Calcium
243mg
(24%)
Iron
9mg
(50%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 2Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 572 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 572cal | 29% |
| Carbohydrates | 48g | 16% |
| Protein | 32g | 64% |
| Fat | 33g | 51% |
| Saturated Fat | 10g | 50% |
| Cholesterol | 187mg | 62% |
| Sodium | 502mg | 21% |
| Potassium | 1796mg | 38% |
| Fiber | 10g | 40% |
| Sugar | 15g | 30% |
| Vitamin A | 8232IU | 165% |
| Vitamin C | 77mg | 86% |
| Calcium | 243mg | 24% |
| Iron | 9mg | 50% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.9
78 reviews
Excellent
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