Gado - Gado

Gado-Gado:  Javanese/Indonesian Salad
(Vegetables Salad) with Peanut Dressing



Vegetable salad with creamy peanuts dressing is Gado-Gado,  It is originally from Jakarta-West Java.
Everyone has their own interpretation of this salad.  The original gado gado does not have carrots or tomatoes.  However, my version is using any vegetables in season, and for the peanut dressing, I use the combination of roasted peanut and peanut butter. Ginger is included in the spices.

Serving The Gado-Gado

The Recipe

Gado Gado – Salad with Peanut Dressing

Vegetables

Some lettuce: butter lettuce or iceberg

1 cucumber, slice thinly

2 tomato, slice thinly

1 cup bean sprout, blanched

1 carrot, beans, slice thinly- blanched

1 cup cooked potatoes, slice

4 eggs, hard-boiled; peeled, halved or quartered
Some fried prawn crackers

The dressing

The Peanut Dressing 

2 tablespoons peanut butter+1 tablespoon roasted peanut

1 cup of water

2 tablespoons oil

2 chillies

1 garlic

1 sliced ginger

kaffir lime leaves

2 tablespoons palm sugar dressing

1 tablespoon sweet soy

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 whole lemon juice

salt tot taste

To Prepare and To Cook the Peanut Butter Dressing

Crushed the roasted peanuts and mix it with the smooth peanut butter 

Sauté the chilli, ginger and garlic quickly, add in  the peanut butter mix, water; stir Keep on cooking until the mixture is thick- bubbly;
add in the sugar and salt and kaffir lime leaves

Add in the soy sauce, fish sauce and the juice of the whole lemon
Let the sauce cook into thick consistency, taste the seasoning; transfer into serving the dish

I like to add some oil to this peanut dressing before the serving, for this quantity add in a tablespoon of oil

Spring is here, you may like to have a lot of salads, this Gado-Gado is one of the best, give the recipe a go, you will enjoy it.

I have to confess that I did not have a lot of this salad for my family,  because my youngest daughter Susan has an allergy to Peanut.  I tried to make cashew nuts dressing instead, but it's not the same.

Have fun!
Susy