Gado-Gado

Gado-Gado

A classic Indonesian salad of blanched vegetables, fried tofu and tempeh, and a hard-boiled egg, all drenched in a rich peanut sauce. Often served with krupuk and a wedge of lime.

Prep

25 min

Cook

30 min

Total

55 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •400 g (14 oz) firm tofu, cut into 2 cm cubes
• •300 g (10½ oz) tempeh, sliced into 1 cm pieces, 8 cm long
• •200 g (7 oz) fresh long beans (yardlong beans), cut into 4 cm lengths; green beans work too
• •200 g (7 oz) bean sprouts, rinsed and tails pinched off
• •150 g (5 oz) spinach or choy sum, tough stems removed
• •1 small head cabbage, cored and shredded, about 300 g / 10 oz
• •1 large cucumber, sliced into 5 mm half-moons, optional raw bed
• •4 medium eggs
• •300 g (10½ oz) raw peanuts, skinless, roasted, unsalted; see step for toasting
• •150 g (5 oz) palm sugar (gula merah), grated; dark brown sugar is the substitute, see note
• •3 tablespoons (3 tbsp) tamarind paste, seedless block soaked in 60 ml / 4 tbsp hot water, strained
• •4 cloves garlic
• •2 medium red shallots
• •3 tablespoons (3 tbsp) sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
• •1 tablespoon (1 tbsp) lime juice, plus wedges to serve
• •2 teaspoons (2 tsp) salt, plus more for blanching water
• •2 tablespoons (2 tbsp) neutral oil, for frying tofu and tempeh
• •250 ml (1 cup) water, for sauce; adjust for thickness
• •1 packet krupuk (Indonesian crackers), to serve

Steps

1. 1 Toast the peanuts: place 300 g skinless raw peanuts in a dry pan over low–medium heat and stir 6–8 minutes until deep golden and fragrant. Cool slightly. Pulse in a food processor to a coarse-to-fine texture, with a little bite still visible.
2. 2 Make hard-boiled eggs: lower 4 cold eggs into boiling water and cook 9 minutes from the boil for a yolk that is fully set and pale yellow inside. Cool in iced water, then peel.
3. 3 Fry the tofu and tempeh: heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan over medium heat. Fry the tofu cubes in a single layer 6–8 minutes, turning, until all sides are deep golden (internal temperature reaches 75 °C / 165 °F). Fry the tempeh slices 3–4 minutes per side until crisp and bronzed. Drain on paper.
4. 4 Blanch the vegetables: bring a large pot of water to a boil with 1 tbsp salt. Blanch long beans 3 minutes, bean sprouts 1 minute, spinach 30 seconds and cabbage 2 minutes. Each should stay bright and crisp-tender. Refresh under cold running water and drain well; this locks in colour and halts the cooking.
5. 5 Make the peanut sauce: in the same blender or food processor, combine 100 g of the toasted peanuts (reserve the rest for texture), grated palm sugar, tamarind liquid, kecap manis, 4 cloves garlic, 2 roughly chopped shallots, lime juice, 2 tsp salt and 250 ml water. Blend until smooth. Pour into a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer; stir in the reserved crushed peanuts. Loosen with a splash more water if it thickens too much; it should coat a spoon heavily.
6. 6 Cook the sauce 4–5 minutes until glossy, hot and just thickened. Taste and balance: add a pinch more salt if flat, a spoon more kecap manis if not sweet-savoury enough, or a spoon more tamarind if too sweet.
7. 7 Plating: arrange cucumber slices over a large platter. Mound the shredded cabbage, blanched spinach, long beans and bean sprouts around the edge. Tuck the hot fried tofu and tempeh into the centre. Halve the eggs and set them on top, yolk side up.
8. 8 Serve: spoon the warm peanut sauce generously over the vegetables, tofu, tempeh and eggs, or pour it into a small bowl on the side. Finish with krupuk and lime wedges.