Gado-Gado (Salad with Peanut Sauce)

Ingredients

• Vegetables & toppings
• Cabbage0.25 head
• Green beans100 g
• Bean sprouts2 cups
• Potatoes · boiled2
• Boiled eggs2
• Tofu · pan-fried200 g
• Cucumber1
• Tomato1
• Krupuk · prawn crackers, optional
• Peanut sauce
• Roasted peanuts · or 3/4 cup peanut butter1 cup
• Garlic2 cloves
• Red chili2
• Kecap manis · sweet soy, or soy + brown sugar2 tbsp
• Lime juice · or tamarind1 tbsp
• Sugar · palm sugar1 tbsp
• Salt1 tsp
• Warm water · to thin0.75 cup

Steps

1. Boil the potatoes and cut into bite-size pieces; boil the eggs and halve them.

   ⏲ 15 min

2. Blanch the cabbage, green beans, and bean sprouts separately 30-60 seconds, then rinse in cold water and drain.

   ⏲ 5 min

3. Pan-fry the tofu until golden and cut into bite-size pieces.

   ⏲ 5 min

4. Peanut sauce: grind the peanuts, garlic, and chili, then mix in the kecap manis, lime juice, sugar, salt, and warm water until thick (or use peanut butter for ease).

   ⏲ 5 min

5. Arrange the blanched vegetables, potato, tofu, cucumber, tomato, and eggs on a plate.

   ⏲ 3 min

6. Spoon the peanut sauce generously over the top and serve with krupuk. Toss gently just before eating.

Tips & Variations

The basics behind this dish

• Knife Skills: Grip, Cuts, and Why Size MattersHow you hold the knife matters more than how fast you cut. The pinch grip, the claw hand, and why uniform size is a cooking decision rather than a cosmetic one.
• Balancing Flavour: Salt, Acid, Sweet, Fat, HeatWhen something tastes like it is missing something, it is usually salt or acid. Five dials, the order to turn them, and how to taste properly.
• Heat Control: Preheating, Oil, and Reading the PanThe same ingredients become a different dish depending on pan temperature. When to add the oil, how to read heat by sound, and which dishes want low heat instead.