Gado-Gado (Indonesian Salad with Peanut Sauce)

A vibrant Indonesian composed salad of blanched and raw vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, tofu, and tempeh, all brought together with a luscious, fragrant peanut sauce. Gado-Gado is a complete meal bursting with contrasting textures and bold, savory-sweet flavors — a true street-food classic from the Indonesian archipelago.

Ingredients

• 300 g firm tofu
• 200 g tempeh
• 300 g waxy potatoes
• 150 g green beans
• 200 g cabbage
• 150 g bean sprouts
• 100 g spinach or water spinach (kangkung)
• 1 pcs cucumber
• 4 pcs large eggs
• 3 tbsp neutral oil
• 250 g unsalted roasted peanuts
• 3 pcs red chillies
• 3 clove garlic cloves
• 3 pcs shallots
• 1 tsp galangal or fresh ginger
• 2 pcs kaffir lime leaves
• 3 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste
• 200 ml coconut milk
• 2 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
• to taste salt
• 100 ml water
• prawn crackers (krupuk)
• fried shallots
• 1 pcs fresh lime

Instructions

1. Hard-boil the eggs: place eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for 9 minutes. Transfer to an ice bath immediately to stop cooking. Once cool, peel and halve. Set aside.
2. Cook the potatoes: place halved potatoes in a pot of salted cold water, bring to a boil, and cook until just tender when pierced with a fork, about 12–15 minutes. Drain and set aside. Do not overcook — they should hold their shape.
3. Blanch the vegetables: bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the cabbage wedges for 2 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon, and transfer to an ice bath. Blanch the green beans for 3 minutes, then the bean sprouts for 30 seconds, and finally the spinach for 1 minute. Transfer each to the ice bath as done. Drain well and arrange on a large platter.
4. Fry the tofu and tempeh: pat the tofu and tempeh slabs dry with paper towels. Heat 3 tablespoons of neutral oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Fry tofu slabs for 3–4 minutes per side until golden and lightly crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels. Repeat with tempeh. Cut into bite-sized pieces once cool enough to handle.
5. Make the peanut sauce: pulse the roasted peanuts in a food processor until they resemble coarse crumbs (do not over-process to a paste). In the same pan used for frying, add a splash of oil and sauté the garlic, shallots, red chillies, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves over medium heat for 4–5 minutes until softened and fragrant. Transfer the sautéed aromatics to the food processor with the peanuts, add the tamarind water, kecap manis, coconut milk, and palm sugar. Process until you have a thick, slightly textured sauce.
6. Simmer the peanut sauce: pour the blended sauce back into the pan. Cook over low-medium heat, stirring constantly, for 5–6 minutes until the sauce thickens, darkens slightly, and the oil just begins to separate at the edges. Add water gradually to reach a pourable but creamy consistency — it should coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt to taste. Remove and discard the kaffir lime leaves if they remain intact.
7. Assemble the Gado-Gado: on a large serving platter or individual plates, arrange the blanched vegetables (cabbage, green beans, bean sprouts, spinach), sliced cucumber, cooked potato halves, fried tofu and tempeh pieces, and halved eggs. There is no strict rule for arrangement — the beauty is in the abundance and variety of colours.
8. Serve: generously spoon the warm peanut sauce over the salad (or serve it on the side in a bowl). Scatter fried shallots over the top, add prawn crackers on the side for crunch, and place lime wedges alongside for guests to squeeze over. Serve immediately while the sauce is warm.