Gado-Gado

Javanese vegetable and tofu salad with rich peanut sauce

Origin: Jakarta & West Java, Indonesia

From the journey of Peanut.

Gado-gado is one of Indonesia's most beloved national dishes: the name literally means 'mix-mix' in colloquial Indonesian, and the dish is exactly that: a composed salad of blanched and fresh vegetables, boiled eggs, tofu, tempeh, and compressed rice (lontong), dressed generously with sambal kacang (peanut sauce) and topped with prawn crackers for crunch. It is eaten as a complete meal at any hour of the day, from street carts and warung (small restaurants) to hotel restaurants. The peanut sauce; freshly ground roasted peanuts cooked with coconut milk, tamarind, palm sugar, shrimp paste, and galangal; is the dish's centrepiece. Each region of Java has its version: Jakarta's is lighter and slightly sweet; Surabaya's is richer and spicier; the Sundanese version of West Java uses more fresh vegetables and a spicier sauce. All share the fundamental composition of cooked and raw vegetables dressed with a warm peanut sauce that is made fresh for each service. The Dutch East India Company introduced peanuts to Java around 1600; within a generation, the peanut sauce tradition was established, and gado-gado emerged as its most iconic expression.

Ingredients

Protein

  • 200 g firm tofu, cut into 2cm slices and fried until golden
  • 150 g tempeh, cut into 1cm slices and fried until golden
  • 4 eggs, hard-boiled and halved

Vegetables

  • 200 g green beans, blanched 3 minutes, cooled
  • 200 g white cabbage, finely shredded and blanched 1 minute
  • 150 g bean sprouts, briefly blanched or raw
  • 150 g spinach or water spinach (kangkung), blanched briefly
  • 2 medium potatoes, boiled and sliced

Starch

  • 200 g lontong (compressed rice, sold in packets) or 150g plain cooked rice

Garnish

  • 4 tbsp fried shallots (bawang goreng), to garnish
  • 1 handful prawn crackers (krupuk), to serve

Peanut Sauce

  • 250 g roasted unsalted peanuts
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 4 dried red chiles (or 2 fresh red chiles), deseeded
  • 1 tsp shrimp paste (terasi/belacan), toasted
  • 2 cm fresh galangal, peeled (or 1 tsp galangal powder)
  • 2 tbsp tamarind paste
  • 2 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
  • 200 ml coconut milk
  • 1 tsp salt

Method

  1. Make the peanut sauce: blend the garlic, chiles, shrimp paste, and galangal into a paste. Fry in 2 tbsp oil over medium heat for 2–3 minutes until fragrant. Add the blended peanuts (process them briefly to a rough paste first), tamarind, palm sugar, and coconut milk. Stir and simmer for 8–10 minutes until the sauce is thick and fragrant. Season with salt. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon heavily but still pourable.
  2. Prepare all vegetables: blanch green beans (3 min), cabbage (1 min), bean sprouts (30 sec), and spinach (30 sec) separately in boiling salted water. Drain and arrange on a tray to cool. Boil and slice potatoes.
  3. Slice the lontong (compressed rice) into 2cm rounds.
  4. Arrange the vegetables, tofu, tempeh, eggs, and lontong on a large platter or individual plates; there is no strict arrangement, but groups of colour and texture make the dish visually compelling.
  5. Spoon the warm peanut sauce generously over the salad; the sauce should partly pool on the plate. Scatter fried shallots over the top and serve immediately with prawn crackers on the side.

Notes

Lontong (compressed rice) is sold in vacuum-sealed packets at Asian supermarkets. Plain cooked rice shaped into blocks and chilled overnight works as a substitute. The peanut sauce can be made up to 2 days ahead and reheated gently with a splash of coconut milk. Gado-gado is a complete meal; it does not need any accompaniment beyond the prawn crackers.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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