Gado Gado (Indonesian salad with peanut sauce)

Gado Gado – an Indonesian favorite. In my family, during special occasions (where food is always the most important part), this dish is often present. Served together with other Indonesian dishes like for example: Rendang, Sambal Goreng Tempeh and Nasi Goreng. But.. this salad is not a dish for special occasions only! You can also make this as a main accompanied by white rice. 🍚

I really like to make this Gado Gado recipe for weeknights with my left-over vegetables. It's just a very nice way to make sure you consume a lot of vegetables in a way everyone likes it, and a bonus: you won't waste your left-over food. This vegetarian Indonesian salad is so versatile, you can use any vegetables in it! There's no good or bad in choosing your vegetables line-up.

How to make it? 
Just mix about 5 kinds of vegetables - blanched (if needed) or raw - in a bowl, top it off with peanut sauce and condiments, and serve with white rice. Yes, it's very straightforward! However, here's my recipe for Gado Gado to get started!

Step 1
Cook your white rice according to the packaging. Set aside.

Step 2
It's time to cook your vegetables. Bring a cooking pan of water to the boil. Add a tablespoon of salt to the water.

Step 3
In the meantime we will make the peanut sauce for the Gado Gado. To speed up this recipe I like to use a store-bought peanut sauce mix. You can use any other you like, but this is my go-to at the moment for a fast peanut sauce. Try to make the peanut sauce a little thinner than you would do for chicken satay. I like to have the substance somewhere between a dressing and thicker peanut sauce. This is what I would do with store-bought mix: add a tablespoon of sweet soy sauce, around 200ml milk and/or water (to dilute the peanut sauce to your liking), a teaspoon of cumin powder, and a teaspoon of chili (or Indonesian sambal).

Step 4
Cook the green beans for about 5 minutes, until they are still a bit crispy, but nice. Do they taste good? Then rinse the green beans with cold water so they don't overcook. By rinsing the green beans with cold water they also sustain their bright green color! Set a side to cool down. Don't throw away the boiling water! We are going to boil the eggs in it soon. If you already threw away the boiling water, just bring a cooking pan of water to the boil again..

Step 5
Add the eggs to boiling water. Set a timer and cook the eggs for 7 minutes.. Plunge the boiled eggs into cold water and set aside.

Step 6
Slice the radish very thin. I used a mandoline for this. You can also use a hand grater. Cut the cabbage in thin slices of around 1 cm. Chop the leaf celery finely. Cut the eggs into quarters.

Step 7
Assemble your Gado Gado salad! Vegetables and eggs can be served warm or at room temp, sauce should be served warm. It thickens when cooled down. Mix the vegetables (cooked and raw) in a big bowl or serving plate. Top with quartered eggs.

Step 8
‍Serve your Gado Gado on your plate with peanut sauce on top, white rice and condiments on the side.