Indonesian Gado Gado Recipe

This Gado Gado recipe is a traditional Indonesian salad that originated in Jakarta, Indonesia. While there are many variations, it is usually made with a combination of local fresh vegetables and a protein mix of egg and tempeh. 

I went to Indonesia a years ago for two weeks and loved the food so much, especially the Indonesian desserts. If you make this dish, make a dessert to enjoy after your main course for a traditional Indonesian meal.

The accompanying peanut sauce and a local style cracker pair wonderfully with this dish. Scroll down for the ingredients and recipe.

The dish can be served with rice but is commonly eaten on its own, especially if it has tofu and/or tempeh.

How to Make this Gado Gado Recipe

The base of this 30-minute recipe is freshly blanched vegetables that are topped with that delicious peanut sauce and served with crunchy local crackers.

We find it best to assemble all the ingredients for this Gado Gado recipe first, so you don’t miss anything when you start to make the dish.

Boil the potatoes until just soft to eat, placing them on a paper towel to absorb the water and cool a little.

Hard boil 2 eggs and place them in cold water after boiling to cool and make them easier to peel.

Preparing the Crackers

These crackers are called Emping Belinjo in Indonesia. There are actually two varieties; Emping Belinjo or Emping Melinjo, depending on which nut you use.

We used Belinjo nuts this time. Both are very traditional crackers and eaten with meals regularly.

Add vegetable oil in a wok or medium-sized pot and heat up to hot  (200º/390ºF )

Add the Emping Belinjo raw (you can buy these at your local Asian market – they are really nice – a very unique taste and worth the extra effort.)

Cook them only for about 15 seconds and you will see them expand and bubble up. Take them out immediately and drain.

Preparing the Gado Gado Recipe

Continue using the oil, placing the potatoes in the pan, and browning them all over – around 2-3 minutes per side. 

Carefully remove them from the pan place them on a paper towel to drain any excess oil.

With the pan still on medium heat, brown the tempeh.

Carefully remove the tempeh and place on a paper towel to drain any excess oil.

Reduce the temperature down to medium heat. Cook the raw peanuts in the oil just until they turn VERY slightly brown, not more, as they go bitter very easily.

Carefully remove the peanuts and place them on a paper towel to drain any excess oil.

It’s now time to prepare the vegetables.

Cut the snake beans and carrots into 2 inch – 5cm sizes. (You can also use green beans.)

Cut the cucumber into bite-sized chunks.

The silverbeet stays whole. You probably know silverbeet as Swiss chard. 

Cut Kaffir Lime in half and the coconut sugar into smaller pieces to make it easier to dissolve.

Bring the water to a boil and blanch the vegetables in this order so they are still slightly crunchy. Blanch the bean sprouts first.

Next, blanch the carrots and beans for about 3-5 minutes. Check their texture at about 3 minutes – you do not want them soft.

Quickly blanch the Silverbeet.

Gado Gado Peanut Sauce Recipe

Traditionally you would use a mortar and pestle, but we wanted to show you the way it still is done in Indonesia.

The traditional way is to take the nuts, chilies (chopped), and salt (a pinch of shrimp paste is also optional) and grind them to a paste before mixing them with coconut sugar and a little water. (You can swap coconut sugar with brown sugar.)

However, it is far quicker to use a blender or a food processor.

Place peanuts (adding a small number of cashews gives the sauce wonderful flavor), 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste (optional), coconut sugar, chili’s, sweet soy sauce, and a little water to bring the peanut sauce together so it is blended well and creamy.

Blend until smooth. Add the juice of ½ kaffir lime and blend again for 30 seconds.

Now that your ingredients are ready, you can plate and enjoy this amazing salad.

Plating up can be an art form, and the best way is to build from the bottom with the potatoes, then add the carrots and beans. Add blanched silverbeet. Now surround the base with the egg (cut in quarters) and cucumber. 

We find that drizzling a little sweet soy sauce adds to the flavor. Putting the peanut sauce on the side is a nice way to present it, and save calories, but you can also drizzle it over the Gado Gado salad. 

If you’re a rice fan, you can serve this with Nasi Kuning, also called yellow or turmeric rice – and it looks divine.

Be sure to take a look at these dinner recipes for Indonesian food, too. I know you’ll find some new delicious flavors!

This recipe is from Rose of OnePotDish Recipe. Rose is from Bali and is a fully qualified chef. She has owned and operated restaurants in Indonesia and New Zealand over the last 20 years and now is enjoying sharing her recipes and passion for food.