Gado-gado is an Indonesian salad of vegetables that are raw, lightly boiled, blanched, or steamed, and hard-boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, fried tofu and/or tempeh served with the eponymous gado-gado peanut sauce (also called Bumbu kacang), sometimes also garnished with ketupat (glutinous rice cake) and a sprinkle of fried shallots
The term gado or the verb menggado means consuming something without rice.
Among the vegetables used, there are usually at least five: potatoes, green beans, bean sprouts, spinach, chayote, bitter gourd, corn, and cabbage, but also cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce.
The gado-gado sauce is made from ground fried peanuts, palm or coconut sugar, garlic, chilies, salt, tamarind and a splash of lime.
It is a satay sauce, meaning a peanut-based sauce like:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2 People
- Cooking methods: Steaming, Boiling
- Cuisine: Indonesian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 4.2 oz peanuts
- 1.76 oz palm sugar (or coconut)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 chili
- to taste tamarind juice
- to taste salt
- 1 potato
- to taste cabbage (sliced)
- 1.41 oz green beans
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- 17.64 oz tofu (and/or tempeh)
- to taste bean sprouts (and/or tomato)
- to taste sesame oil
Steps
The traditional method for preparation involves using the cobek (pestle) and ulekan or flat rounded stone.
First, grind the dry ingredients, then add tamarind liquid to achieve the desired consistency.
For the gado-gado salad: all ingredients are blanched or slightly boiled, including the vegetables, potatoes, and bean sprouts, except for tempeh and tofu, which are fried after being cut into cubes in sesame oil, and the cucumber which is sliced and served fresh.
Dress with peanut sauce.
In 2018, gado-gado was promoted as one of Indonesia’s five national dishes; the others are: soto, satay, nasi goreng and rendang.
FAQ
Did gado-gado originate in Java?
It is thought to have originally been a Sundanese dish, as it is more prevalent in the western parts of Java (which includes the provinces of Jakarta, Banten, and West Java).
Javanese have their similar version, a vegetable dish in peanut sauce called pecel, which is more common in Central and East Java.How is gado-gado served?
In Indonesia, gado-gado is commonly served mixed with lontong or chopped ketupat (glutinous rice cakes) or with steamed rice served separately.
And almost always with krupuk (starch crackers), Indonesian-style fried crackers made with melinjo.
A common garnish is bawang goreng, meaning a sprinkle of finely chopped fried shallots.Are gado-gado sauce and satay sauce the same?
Satay in Indonesian, or satay in Malaysian, refers to “skewers” of meat usually served with peanut-based sauce often mistakenly called “satay sauces”.
There are various types, with “Sate Padang” perhaps being the most well-known in the West, and among them also the gado-gado sauce used for the dish of the same name.
