Gado Gado

Gado Gado, ‘mix mix’ was voted in 2018 as one of Indonesias national dishes, many other Asian cultures offer a similar version of this dish, this is my preferred culinary mix

This Indonesia super salad is one that I learned during my time running a little cafe called TROPPO in Sydney in the early nineties. I like to roll it out on a summer bbq, fresh on a lovely evening and a chilled glass of wine and I am an avid lover of eggs, I am greedy and usually serve an extra egg for my home edition, I know gluttony, sin and all that. I know not all are fans of a runny egg but I personally believe it does delicious things to a simple dish and am a fan.  And this sauce, now strictly speaking and honest, my original sauce was heavier in peanut butter, I fear it was borderline in becoming a summer satay and kinda killed the idea that you were having something light and possibly even good for you. I adapted mine after trying Jamie Oliver’s, a version slightly adjusted to my taste and have been using ever since. Seems to be a hit also killer as a dipping sauce for bbq meats, try it.

Method

Ingredients

Ingredients for salad:

  • 1/2kg new potatoes
  • 4 large free-range eggs
  • 400g tofu, firm silken
  • sesame oil
  • a small Chinese cabbage
  • 2 ripe tomatoes
  • String beans, handfull
  • A small bunch of radishes
  • ½ cucumber
  • A bag of beansprouts
  • bunch of fresh coriander

Prep,

  1. Boil potatoes and cook in salted water for around 15 min, until soft, then slice up.
  2. Soft-boil the eggs for 6 minutes, or longer if you prefer them more cooked.
  3. Cube the tofu and fry in sesame oil for around 15 min, until golden, then lightly with salt.
  4. Shred your cabbage, cut it into thin slices, place in a strainer and slowly pour a kettle of boiling water over it to soften the cabbage & steam your beans.
  5. Cut your tomatoes into wedges, quarter the radishes and slice cucumber and season to taste.

Sauce:

  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 50g palm sugar
  • 120 g crunchy peanut butter
  • 1–2 fresh red birds eye chillies
  • 2 limes , the juice of and some zest
  • 2 teaspoons good quality fish sauce, (Squid Brand) the one I use
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon tamarind paste

Throw all the sauce ingredients in a blender and blitz till smooth. Season to taste, lime should come through add more until you feel the zing.

Serving Suggestion:

Share your veg into four bowls add the tofu and then one egg in each, coriander leaves and some finely sliced chilli will add some aromatic notes to this hearty salad.

 



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recipes, Restaurant Blog