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Do you ever eat Gado-gado?
Gado-gado (Indonesian or Betawi), also known as Lotek (Sundanese and Javanese), is an Indonesian salad of slightly boiled, blanched or steamed vegetables and hard-boiled eggs served with a peanut sauce dressing.
Formerly, gado-gado sauce was generally made to order, sometimes in front of the customers to suit their personal preference for the degree of spiciness, which corresponds to the amount of chili pepper included. However, particularly in the West, gado-gado sauce is often prepared ahead of time and in bulk. Gado-gado sauce is also available in dried form, which simply needs to be rehydrated by adding hot water.
Gado-gado in Indonesian literary means "mix-mix" since it is made of rich mixture of vegetables such as potatoes, string beans, bean sprouts, spinach, chayote, bitter gourd, corn and cabbage, tofu, bean curd or tempe we call it, and of course hard-boiled eggs. Then all mixed in peanut sauce dressing, topped with krupuk or Cracker and sprinkles of fried shallots.
INGREDIENTS
Peanut sauce dressing
The common primary ingredients of the peanut sauce are as follows:
- ground fried peanuts (kidney beans may be substituted for a richer taste)
- coconut sugar/palm sugar (substitute brown sugar if unavailable)
- chillies (according to preference and desired degree of spiciness)
- terasi (dried shrimp paste)
- salt
- tamarind juice
- lime juice
- water to dilute
Vegetables
The composition of the vegetable salad varies greatly, but usually comprises a mixture of some of the following:
- blanched - shredded, chopped, or sliced green vegetables such as cabbage, kangkung, spinach, bean sprouts, boiled young jack fruit, chayote, string bean, green bean, bitter melon, and corn.
- uncooked - sliced cucumber
- sliced - fried tofu and tempeh or Bean curd
- sliced - boiled potatoes
- peeled and sliced boiled eggs
- Outside Indonesia, it is usual to improvise with whatever vegetables are available.
The blanched vegetables and other ingredients such as tofu, tempeh, or egg are mixed well with the peanut sauce.
Topping, Rice and Garnishes
In Indonesia gado-gado is commonly served mixed with chopped lontong or ketupat (glutinous rice cake), or with steamed rice served separately. It is nearly always served with krupuk (crackers), e.g. tapioca crackers or "emping", Indonesian style fried crackers which are made from melinjo. A common garnish is finely-chopped fried shallot.
So if you want to try this delicious food just come to any Indonesian food corner or restaurant and you will find this Gado-gado...Bon Appetit guys!
