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Indonesian Gado-Gado Salad with a variety of flavors and textures.

Gado-Gado Salad

This Indonesian Gado-Gado Salad is a meal in itself with raw and blanched vegetables, eggs, tofu, tempeh, rice cakes, and peanut sauce.
Author : Linda Ooi
Course : Salad
Cuisine : indonesian
Keyword : gado-gado, gado-gado salad
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Servings : 8
Calories : 495kcal

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup long grain rice (100g)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 12 oz baby potatoes (340g)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 7 oz baked tofu (200g)
  • 8 oz tempeh (225g)
  • 4 tbsp vegetable oil (divided)
  • 4 to 8 pieces keropok (fish or shrimp crackers)
  • ½ cup fried shallots (25g)
  • 1 medium lime (cut into wedges)

Blanched Vegetables

  • 8 oz mungbean sprouts (225g)
  • 8 oz green beans (trimmed) (225g)
  • 4 oz long beans (cut into 2½ inch lengths) (113g)

Raw Vegetables

  • 1 medium cucumber (cut into slices)
  • 4 oz cabbage (shredded) (125g)

Peanut Sauce (Kuah/Bumbu Kacang)

  • 1 cup blanched peanuts (150g)
  • 4 cloves garlic (peeled)
  • 4 large shallots (peeled)**
  • 4 red chilies (seeded and cut into chunks)
  • 1 stalk lemongrass (cut bottom third into rings)
  • ½ tsp toasted belacan
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water (240ml)
  • 2 tsp tamarind concentrate
  • 2 tbsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)
  • ½ tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 1 tbsp dark caramel soy sauce (optional)***

Instructions
 

Peanut Sauce

  • Baked peanuts at 350⁰F/180⁰C for 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle, transfer to a blender and process until fine. Remove and set aside.
  • Blend garlic, shallots, red chilies, lemongrass, and toasted belacan into a spice paste.
  • In a medium saucepan, heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add spice paste and stir fry for 3 minutes. Pour in water.
  • Add tamarind concentrate and ground peanuts. Bring sauce to a boil.
  • Add palm sugar and salt. Also, add dark caramel soy sauce if using.*** Continue to cook for 3 more minutes. Turn off stove.

Pressed Rice (Nasi Himpit)

  • Wash and drain rice 3 to 4 times in a small saucepan. Then add 1½ cups (360ml) water. When water comes to a boil, add salt. Cook rice on the stove until all water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Turn off stove and allow rice to cool.
  • Transfer cooked rice onto a double layer of plastic shrink wrap. Roll up the rice with the shrink wrap and tighten the roll by twisting both ends. Set aside until ready to use.
  • When ready to use, remove shrink wrap and cut rice log into 3/8th inch thick slices. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a nonstick fry pan. Add rice cake slices and pan fry for 3 minutes. Flip rice cake and drizzle another tablespoon vegetable oil over the rice cake. Pan fry for another 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Cook Potatoes, Eggs, Tofu, Tempeh, and Keropok

  • Scrub and boiled baby potatoes in lightly salted water for 12 to 15 minutes until tender. Drain and peel when cool enough to handle. Cut into bite size pieces.
  • Boil eggs for 7 minutes. Remove and plunge into cold water. Peel and cut into halves.
  • Cut baked tofu and tempeh into 1½”x½”x¼” slices. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a nonstick fry pan. Add baked tofu slices and pan fry each side for 2 minutes. Remove.
  • Do the same for tempeh with remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.
  • Microwave keropok (fish or shrimp crackers) for 1 to 2 minutes depending on the size of the crackers. If they are large pieces, break into smaller pieces.

Blanch Vegetables

  • Bring a small pot of water to boil. Blanch mungbean sprouts for 10 seconds and plunge into cold water bath.
  • Drain well. Blanch prepared green beans and long beans for 1to 2 minutes each. Plunge into cold water bath and drain well.

Putting The Salad Together

  • Arrange all prepared ingredients on a large platter with peanut sauce and fried shallots in separate bowls. Break keropok (fish or shrimp crackers) over the salad. Place a few serving tongs close by for serving.
  • Allow each person to pick what they want from the platter with tongs and drizzle some peanut sauce over their salad.

Notes

** Local shallots in the US are long and huge. If you are able to get regular shallots from the Asian market, you may want to use 6 to 8 shallots instead.
*** I did not use dark caramel soy sauce as I prefer my peanut sauce to have a brighter color. The palm sugar alone provides sufficient sweetness to the sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 495kcal
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