tb Minced garlic 2 tb Minced shallot 1 tb Minced fresh galangal or 1 ts Ground galangal 1 ts Dried shrimp paste 1/2 ts Ground dried chile or 1/4 ts Sambal ulek 1 c Oil 1/2 c Raw peanuts 1 ts Brown or palm sugar 1 c Thin coconut milk **
Salt, to taste Juice of 1/2 lime, to -taste * (a variety of the following): cabbage, in 1-inch squares; bean sprouts; carrots, sliced or julienned; green beans, in 2-inch pieces;
potatoes or sweet potatoes in large dice; sliced cucumbers;
watercress sprigs; tomato wedges.
** (The thin stuff from the bottom of a can of coconut milk. SC)
This is from a new cookbook I just got. Haven’t tried this recipe yet, but it looks dead on.
This is a rather free-form salad of lightly cooked vegetables; the exact contents depend on what is available. What makes it gado-gado is the dressing, a creamy peanut sauce.
Remove tofu from package and drain. Place on a plate lined with cloth or paper towels, top with another layer of towel and an inverted plate, and place a weight of a pound or more on top. Let stand for 30 minutes, unwrap, and discard liquid. Cut tofu into bite-sized squares or triangles and sprinkle with kecap manis. Fry in 350F oil until golden brown and puffy; transfer to paper towels to drain. Reserve oil to cook peanuts.
One at a time, blanch vegetables in lightly salted water, rinsing them in cold water to stop cooking as soon as they reach the desired degree of doneness. Cabbage and bean sprouts require only a few seconds; carrots, green beans, and potatoes may take several minutes depending on size and tenderness. Do not blanch cucumbers, watercress, and tomatoes. use them raw.
Place Gado-Gado Sauce in a small bowl in the center of a large platter. Arrange vegetables on platter around sauce. Garnish with wedges or slices of hard-cooked egg and fried onion flakes. To serve, spoon some sauce onto each plate and dip vegetables into sauce. Serves 4 to 6 with other dishes.
GADO-GADO SAUCE:
To prepare sauce in a mortar: Pound garlic, shallot, galangal, shrimp paste, and chile to a paste. To prepare sauce in a blender:
Chop together in a 1-cup jar.
In a wok or deep skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until a peanut sizzles on contact. Fry peanuts until lightly browned;
transfer to paper towels to drain. When peanuts have cooled, grind in a mortar or food processor to a coarse, grainy paste, adding a little oil if necessary to facilitate blending. (May be made up to a week ahead and stored covered in refrigerator.)
Remove all but 2 tablespoons oil from pan and reserve for another use. Return pan to medium-low heat and add pounded mixture. Cook until quite fragrant, but do not burn. Add peanuts, sugar, and coconut milk and bring to a boil, stirring. Simmer until thick and season to taste with salt and lime juice. Allow to coot to room temperature before serving.
Makes 1 cup.
From the California Culinary Academy’s ‘Southeast Asian Cooking’, Jay Harlow, published by the Chevron Chemical Company, 1987. ISBN 0-89721-098-0.
Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; May 31 1993.
