Gado gado, a traditional Indonesian dish, is one of my favorite summer dishes. It is almost a salad; the vegetables are slightly boiled (for just a couple of minutes in total) and afterward rinsed with cold water. This way the veggies stay crunchy. The cooled off vegetables are topped with warm homemade peanut sauce.

In the Netherlands, where I am from, there are lots of Indonesian restaurants and take outs (called toko), so I’ve had my fair share of tasty Indonesian food; the flavors are just so incredibly. And complex to recreate when you try it yourself.

Traditional Gado Gado

I did some research on Gado Gado, because I wanted to find out what traditional gado gado consists of. What are the standard vegetables in a gado gado dish? What are the main ingredients for the peanut sauce (or actually dressing)? I couldn’t figure it out. Most recipes I found where non traditional or they just listed a bunch of veggies, but no exact amounts and ways to prepare.

Gado gado is a staple in Indonesian diet. I learned that every Indonesian family has it own Gado Gado recipe. And lots of times it is a family secret! My mother-in-law was born in Indonesia and made traditional ‘rice table’ (a whole spread of indonesian dishes including gado gado) for us sometimes, but also she never really used a recipe… So I figured there was only one thing I could do; I went back to my kitchen and started with what I knew from my numerous times of having Gado Gado and added my own flair!

The vegetables in Gado Gado

Let’s talk about vegetables first. The base for Gado Gado should be carrot, green beans and cabbage. And bean sprouts, but they are not widely available here in Nicaragua, but you should definitely add them if you can. Optional additions are potato and a hard boiled egg, which I always add so it becomes a real meal instead of a salad. And cucumber is a great addition as well (I usually make a side dish of pickled cucumbers though, but adding cucumber to your gado gado is simpler). Other vegetables like cauliflower or brocolli and even tofu is another good addition to it. Then there are optional toppings like krupuk (deep fried crackers usually made from starch and shrimp) and bawang goreng (crispy fried onion snippets) which I like to add to it as well.

All vegetables except for cucumber are blanched/parboiled and then rinsed with cold water to keep them crunchy.

The peanut sauce dressing

But what brings this vegetable salad to the next level is peanut sauce! Onions and garlic are quickly sauteed in vegetable or coconut oil. Sambal is stirred into it (sambal is a Indonesian chili paste), then peanut butter and ketjap (Indonesian sweet soy sauce). Lastly coconut milk, which will make this paste into a creamy dressing sauce. I sometimes add a few squeezes of lime juice to give it more depth of flavor.

When I am short on time I make a simple and quick peanut sauce like this: I whisk together peanut butter, coconut milk, soy sauce, lime juice, a few drops of sriracha or other hot sauce and a pinch of salt.

Now all there is left to do is plate your cooled veggies and top with warm peanut sauce. Add any preferred toppings and you are ready to dig into your Gado Gado.

I keep my peanut sauce mild so the kids like it too. They nom away on the veggies because of the incredibly delicious sauce on top. Give it a try, I am sure you and your family will love it. It is:

healthy and light – colorful – quick and easy – customizable – & delicious

This Gado Gado would make a lovely light summer-night-meal. It is easily customizable, so add or leave out whatever you wish (just not the sauce!). Add some (brown) rice (or nasi goreng… look it up, you’ll enjoy it) or even gallo pinto (rice and beans). For a tropical side dish combine cucumber and pineapple chunks and add finely chopped red onion, sambal/sriracha/sweet chili sauce and a tablespoon of vinegar in a bowl. Want to add protein? Add some bbq-ed chicken skewers.

Gado gado

A traditional Indonesian dish of crunchy vegetables topped with peanut sauce

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Course Main Course, Salad, Side Dish

Servings 4 people

Calories 304 kcal

Ingredients

The peanut sauce

1 tbsp vegetable or coconut oil
1 shallot (finely chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced)
1-2 tsp sambal oelek (if not available, you could try to replace it with Sriracha sauce)
2-3 tbsp peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, whatever you prefer)
2 tbsp ketjap manis (or sub regular soy sauce, tamari or coconut aminos)
200 ml coconut milk (½ can)

The veggies

150 gr carrots (5 oz. / 0.33lb)
150 gr green beans (5 oz. / 0.33lb)
150 gr cabbage (5 oz. / 0.33lb)
100 gr cauliflower (3.5 oz./ 0.25lb)
100 gr potatoes (3.5 oz. / 0.25lb)
1/2 medium size cucumber
100 gr bean sprouts (3.5 oz. / 0.25lb) (optional)
4 eggs (hard boiled and peeled)(optional)

Instructions

To make the peanut sauce:
Heat up oil in a small sauce pan. Add onion until translucent then add garlic for just a few seconds. Add the sambal and stir to combine. Add peanut butter and stir. Add ketjap and stir. Now whisk in the coconut milk to make it a creamy sauce. Add water if too thick, add peanut butter if too runny.
For the vegetables:
Fill up a large pot half way with water and heat it up
In the meantime peel and cut potato, carrot and cucumber in wedges or cubes. Wash and clean the green beans. Cut the cauliflower into florets. Wash the bean sprouts. Remove outer layer of the cabbage and chop it finely.
Add potato to the boiling water for 2 minutes. Now add carrot and green beans for another 2 minutes. Then add beans sprouts and cabbage for just a quick minute.
Drain the water from the pot and rinse the vegetables with cold water. Transfer to a serving bowl, mix in cucumber and top with hard boiled egg (that is cut in fours).
Top your vegetable salad with peanut sauce and other optional toppings. Enjoy!

Notes

*Quick and easy peanut sauce: whisk together 4 tbsp of peanut butter, 1/2 cup coconut milk, 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp lime juice, a few drops of sriracha or other hot sauce and a pinch of salt.

Nutritional information:

the information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Keyword gluten free, vegan

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