Asian Salad Recipes - Indonesian Mixed Salad with Peanut Dressing (Gado Gado) Recipe

Ingredients 

• 2 hard-boiled eggs

• 85g (3oz) long beans, cut into 2.5cm (1in) lengths

• 85g (3oz) cauliflower, roughly chopped

• 85g (3oz) carrot, roughly cut into small cubes

• 85g (3oz) beansprouts

• oil for deep-frying

• 85g (3oz) beancurd (tofu), cut into 2.5cm (1in) cubes

• 1 potato, cut into small cubes 

For the dressing:

• 2 tablespoons oil

• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 2 shallots, finely chopped

• 4 tablespoons coconut cream

• 2 tablespoons fish sauce

• 1 tablespoon tamarind water

• 2 teaspoons sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

• 3 tablespoons ground roast peanuts

Serves 4

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Method

1. Shell the eggs, cut the eggs into quarters and set aside. Bring a pan of water to the boil. Add the long beans, cauliflower, carrot and beansprouts and blanch for 3 minutes. Remove, drain on kitchen paper and set aside to cool.

2. Heat the oil to medium-hot, add the bean curd and fry until golden-brown. Remove, drain on kitchen paper and set aside.

3. Add the potato cubes to the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Remove, drain on kitchen paper and set aside.

4. When the blanched vegetables are cool, arrange them in a serving bowl, add the deep-fried bean curd and potato and top with the egg quarters. Set aside.

5. Make the dressing: heat the oil to quite hot and fry the garlic and shallots until golden-brown. Add all the remaining ingredients in turn, stirring after each addition.

6. When they are all stirred in, simmer and stir for 30 seconds, until the sauce blends and thickens. Remove from the heat and allow to cool briefly.

7. Pour over the salad and serve.

Note: After sate, this is probably the best-known Indonesian dish. Even those who have tried it, though, may be unaware of how much it varies from place to place and cook to cook. A meal in itself, gado gado can be made with a range of raw or partly cooked ingredients, the one constant being the peanut sauce dressing, but even here there is room for variation. Being Thai, I've chosen a noticeably spicy example, which I think goes well with the blandness of the egg, bean curd and potato. You can adjust ingredients like chili, adding more or less as you prefer - every Indonesian has his or her preference, so feel free.