Gado Gado

Gado Gado has been on my bucketlist of dishes to try for such a long time but I still haven't visited Indonesia. So it was time to give it a go at home, especially as most of the ingredients are now readily available in most supermarkets.

Ingredients
serves 4

for the peanut sauce

225g peanut butter, 100%, smooth
4 tbsp sambal oelak or other chilli paste (adjust to taste)
4 tbsp Kecap Manis
4 tsp Black garlic paste
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp lime juice
400 ml coconut milk 
1 tsp soft brown sugar
300 ml water
1 tbsp vegetable oil

for the salad

200g tempeh 
2 tbsp vegetable oil
200g new potato - boiled, halved or sliced
100g beansprouts
1 cucumber , sliced
4 hard boiled eggs , peeled and halved
250g spinach or 2 pak choi
1 large carrot, slice into battons
50 g peanuts, roughly chopped
1 red bird's eye chilli, deseed and slice, (optional)

Method

Prepare the peanut sauce in advance.  

Heat a tablespoon of veg oil on a medium-high heat and add the chopped garlic. As it starts to colour add the coconut milk and peanut butter. 

With a wooden spoon carefully stir to mix well to acheive a smooth consistency.  

Add the black garlic paste and the chilli paste. (I actually used gochujang as it's what I had in the fridge). Stir regularly so the sauce doesn't catch. 

Then add the lime juice, Kepas Manis and the water. Bring to a simmer and turn the heat down.  Season with the salt and sugar. Adjust to taste. 

Simmer for 5 minutes. The sauce should not be too thick. It should be possible to drizzle.

Remove from heat, cover and set aside.

In the meantime boil the eggs until hard boiled. Also boil the potatoes until cooked. Set aside.

In a small frying pan fry the tempeh on a medium- low heat until golden and crispy. 

Quickly blanche the spinach in boiling water. Transfer to a colander and squeeze out the excess water. 

Then blanche the beansprouts for a minute. Again squeeze out any excess water. 

Just before you are ready to assemble the dish, reheat the peanut sauce.

To serve, pour the sauce into an individual serving bowl, then arrange the all vegetables and tempeh in equal batches around it. Place two halves of hard boiled egg on top. Drizzle with some more of the sauce and sprinkle over some chopped peanuts, and red chilli.