Ingredients
Bumbu kacang (peanut sauce)
- 250 graw skin-on peanuts
- 300 mlcoconut oil, for frying
- 4garlic cloves
- 4red bird’s eye chillies, or to taste
- 60 ggula jawa (palm sugar), chopped
- 2 tbsptamarind pulp soaked in 100 ml hot water, strained
- 2kaffir lime leaves
- 1.5 tspsalt
- 250–350 mlhot water
Vegetables and garnish
- 200 ggreen beans, cut in 4 cm lengths
- 200 gcabbage, cut into ribbons
- 150 gbeansprouts
- 150 gwater spinach (kangkung) or spinach
- 2potatoes, boiled and sliced 1 cm thick
- 200 gfirm tofu, cut into slabs
- 200 gtempeh, sliced 1 cm thick
- 4eggs, boiled 8 minutes and halved
- 1cucumber, sliced
- 2tomatoes, wedged
- 100 glontong (compressed rice cake), sliced
To finish
- 3 tbspcrisp fried shallots
- 8emping or melinjo crackers
- 1lime, in wedges
Directions
- Fry the peanuts in the coconut oil over medium heat for 6–8 minutes, stirring constantly, until they are deep gold and smell toasted, then lift out and cool. They crisp as they cool.
- Fry the tofu and tempeh in the same oil until golden on all sides, 4–5 minutes, and drain. Keep 2 tbsp of the oil.
- Pound the cooled peanuts with the garlic, chillies and salt in a large stone mortar (cobek) to a coarse, oily paste. A blender works, but the mortar gives the correct grainy texture.
- Work in the palm sugar and the strained tamarind water, then loosen with the hot water a little at a time to a thick, pourable sauce that ribbons off the pestle. Add the torn lime leaves.
- Blanch the vegetables separately in salted boiling water, each to its own timing: beans 3 minutes, cabbage 2 minutes, kangkung 1 minute, beansprouts 30 seconds. Refresh so they stay bright and crisp.
- Taste the sauce and balance it: it should be salty, sweet, sour and hot at once, with the peanut still identifiable. Adjust with more tamarind or palm sugar.
- Arrange the vegetables, potato, tofu, tempeh, lontong, cucumber and tomato in sections on a wide platter rather than tossing them together.
- Spoon the peanut sauce generously over the top, add the halved eggs, scatter with fried shallots and stand the crackers on top. Serve with lime and let each person mix their own plate.
Technique
- Gado-gado means mix-mix, but the assembly is deliberate: each vegetable is cooked to its own point so the plate has four or five different textures.
- Warung cooks often pound a little fermented paste into the bumbu and grind it fresh to order in a cobek at the counter; this version leaves it out to keep the dish meat-free, so lean harder on tamarind and palm sugar for depth.
- The sauce thickens noticeably on standing. Keep back some hot water and slacken it just before serving.
- Gula jawa is not the same as white sugar. Its smoky, mineral caramel is a large part of the flavour.
Substitutions
- No raw peanuts: unsalted roasted peanuts work, but skip the frying step and add 1 tbsp coconut oil to the mortar.
- Tamarind can be replaced by lime juice, though the sauce loses its rounded sourness.
- Kangkung can be replaced by spinach or chard, blanched briefly.
Variations
- Gado-gado Betawi from Jakarta thins the sauce with coconut milk and adds a spoon of cashew.
- Lotek from Bandung is the raw-vegetable cousin, ground with kencur.
- Ketoprak is the Jakarta version built on rice vermicelli, tofu and beansprouts only.
History
Blanched vegetables under peanut sauce; the name means mix-mix, and the dish is a Betawi speciality of Jakarta.
Frequently asked questions
What is Gado-Gado?
Gado-Gado is a salad & side from Indonesia: blanched vegetables, tofu, tempeh and egg under peanut dressing. Blanched vegetables under peanut sauce; the name means mix-mix, and the dish is a Betawi speciality of Jakarta.
How long does Gado-Gado take to make?
Gado-Gado takes 35 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Gado-Gado?
Yes, within limits. No raw peanuts: unsalted roasted peanuts work, but skip the frying step and add 1 tbsp coconut oil to the mortar. Tamarind can be replaced by lime juice, though the sauce loses its rounded sourness. Kangkung can be replaced by spinach or chard, blanched briefly.
What is the most important thing to get right in Gado-Gado?
Arrange the vegetables, potato, tofu, tempeh, lontong, cucumber and tomato in sections on a wide platter rather than tossing them together.
