Gado-gado (Indonesian Salad with Peanut Sauce)

Introduction

Gado-gado is an Indonesian vegetable salad bound together with a rich, spiced peanut sauce—the peanuts are fried until golden, ground into paste, then simmered until thick and glossy. The dish balances soft blanched vegetables, crispy fried elements (tempeh, tofu, shallots), and a creamy sauce spiked with lime or vinegar, making it a substantial side dish or light main course that comes together in stages but rewards the effort.

Recipe Details

• Prep Time: 45 minutes
• Cook Time: 35 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Servings: 4

Ingredients

Peanut sauce

• 1 g terasi (fermented prawn paste)
• Vegetable oil
• 300 g peanuts
• Fresh or dried chile pepper
• 1 clove garlic
• Salt
• 125 g gula jawa (Indonesian palm sugar)
• 4 shallots
• Sugar
• Fresh lime juice or rice vinegar

Salad

• Hard-boiled eggs, sliced
• Whole potatoes, steamed or boiled
• Mixed vegetables (e.g. cabbage, bean sprouts, cucumber, chayote, water spinach, asparagus bean, spinach)
• Deep fried soybean cake
• Deep fried tempeh
• Deep fried kerupuk (fish or prawn crackers)
• Deep fried shallot

Instructions

Peanut sauce

1. Fry prawn paste with vegetable oil until fragrant.
2. Fry the peanuts until golden brown. Remove from the pan and leave to cool, then drain off all but a little of the excess oil.
3. Grind the peanuts to a paste.
4. Add ground chili pepper, garlic, salt, sugar, and prawn paste to the peanut paste. Grind to mix.
5. Put peanut paste in a pan, add some water to dissolve (use coconut milk for a richer taste).
6. Add additional sugar into the peanut sauce to taste, and bring to the boil.
7. Simmer peanut sauce until thick, and season with the lime juice or vinegar.

Salad

1. Remove the skin from the boiled potatoes. Deep fry the potatoes until golden brown, then slice.
2. Wash, shred, or chop cabbage, spinach, and water spinach.
3. Boil water in a pan. Add cabbage, and cook until tender. Drain.
4. Use strained boiling water to boil the spinach and water spinach, one after another. Drain.
5. Blanch bean sprouts for about 30 seconds. Drain.
6. Peel chayote, wash, slice, and boil until tender.
7. Wash and slice cucumber.
8. Place the salad, sliced potatoes, fried tofu, fried tempeh, and eggs in a large plate, either randomly or in layers.
9. Pour the peanut sauce over the salad.
10. Spread deep fried shallots on top, and serve with kerupuk.

Variations

• Coconut-enriched sauce: Use coconut milk instead of water to dissolve the peanut paste for a richer, sweeter sauce that mellows the spice—ideal if your chile is particularly hot.
• Vegetable swaps: Substitute chayote with green papaya, or add blanched long beans and zucchini; the cooking time and texture remain similar, and the mild, slightly sweet vegetables work equally well.
• Tempeh-only version: Omit the fried tofu and use extra tempeh; both absorb the sauce similarly, so this shifts the dish toward a nuttier, slightly earthier flavor without changing the technique.
• Cold served version: Prepare all components and chill the peanut sauce separately, then assemble just before serving; the salad becomes refreshing rather than warm, though the sauce should remain at room temperature or slightly warmed so it coats properly.
• Spice boost: Add 1–2 tablespoons of sambal (chili paste) to the peanut sauce after simmering if you want a sharper, more aggressive heat without adjusting the other seasonings.

Tips for Success

• Toast the peanuts evenly: Watch them as they fry in the second step—they continue browning after you remove them from the heat, so pull them when they’re just shy of dark golden to avoid a bitter, burned taste.
• Grind in batches if needed: If your blender or food processor struggles with thick peanut paste, grind the peanuts first, then add the other ingredients one at a time and pulse until smooth rather than overloading it.
• The sauce should be pourable, not stiff: When simmering in step 7, aim for a consistency that coats the back of a spoon but still flows; if it tightens too much as it cools, warm it gently with a splash of water to loosen it before serving.
• Blanch vegetables separately: Each vegetable cooks at a different rate, so boiling them one after another (not all together) prevents overcooking the faster-cooking items like spinach while waiting for cabbage to soften.
• Assemble just before serving: The fried elements (tempeh, tofu, shallots) stay crisp longest when they hit the warm sauce just before you eat, so finish assembly within a few minutes of pouring the sauce to maintain contrast between soft and crunchy textures.

Storage and Reheating

Storage: Keep the peanut sauce and salad components in separate containers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. The sauce thickens as it cools; store it in an airtight container. Keep the fried elements (tempeh, tofu, shallots) in a separate airtight container so they don’t absorb moisture and lose crispness.

Reheating: Gently warm the peanut sauce in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally and adding a splash of water if it has become too thick. Reheat the vegetables in the microwave (covered, 1–2 minutes) or in a pan with a little water. Fry fresh shallots or lightly recrisp fried elements in a 160°C oven for 5 minutes if they have softened. Assemble and serve warm.

FAQ

Can I make the peanut sauce ahead?

Yes—prepare it up to 1 day in advance and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Warm it gently on the stovetop before serving, adding water a teaspoon at a time if it has become too thick.

What if I can’t find terasi or gula jawa?

Substitute terasi with fish sauce (use half the amount, as it is more pungent) or omit it if unavailable—you will lose some umami depth but the sauce remains balanced. Replace gula jawa with regular brown sugar or coconut sugar in equal weight; the flavor will be slightly less complex but the sauce will still taste good.

Can I use a food processor instead of a mortar and pestle?

Why do the vegetables need to be blanched or boiled separately?

Each vegetable has a different cooking time—cabbage takes longer than spinach, and spinach longer than bean sprouts. Cooking them together results in some vegetables mushy and others raw. Blanching or boiling one after another in the same water is efficient and ensures even, tender texture throughout.