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Gado Gado recipe plated.
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5 from 3 votes

Gado Gado

Gado Gado is an Indonesian salad made with lots of veggies and a delicious peanut sauce.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Course: Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine: Indonesian
Servings: 4
Calories: 632kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch silverbeet also known as Swiss Chard, 7 ounces
  • 4 potatoes rinsed and chopped into ¼-inch slice
  • 10 baby carrots
  • 8 oz snake beans or green beans, stems removed
  • 2 C bean sprouts
  • 1 Cucumber
  • 2 chili
  • 1 kaffir lime regular lime is fine
  • 2 eggs
  • 7 oz raw peanuts
  • 7 oz Tempeh
  • 1 T Kecup Manis Also known as Sweet Soy Sauce
  • 3.5 oz Coconut Sugar Can use palm sugar or brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • shrimp paste optional
  • 2 oz Emping Belinjo Can use rice crackers or similar cracker

Instructions

  • Gather ingredients and wash vegetables.
  • 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. Place them in cold water when done to make it easier to peel.

Making Emping Belinjo Crackers

  • Put some vegetable oil in a wok or medium-sized pot and heat up to hot - (200ºC/ 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.

Making Gado Gado

  • 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 put on a paper towel to drain any excess oil.
  • Reduce the temperature down to medium heat.
  • Take your raw peanuts and also cook them 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Making the Peanut Sauce

  • Place peanuts (adding a small number of cashews gives the sauce wonderful flavor), 1 teaspoon salt, ½ 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.

Put Salad Together

  • 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. 
  • Serve peanut sauce on the side or drizzle it over the salad.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 632kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 1048mg | Potassium: 1215mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 8824IU | Vitamin C: 72mg | Calcium: 169mg | Iron: 7mg