Gado-gado

Gado-gado is a traditional dish in Indonesian cuisine, and comprises a vegetable salad served with a peanut sauce dressing. It is widely served in hotels and restaurants in Indonesia, and in Indonesian restaurants in other countries, although some opine that the mass-production nature of commercial catering, where food is cooked in bulk at the beginning of the day, has ruined the quality of the dish.

Vegetable salad

The exact composition of the vegetable salad varies, but usually comprises some mixture of

• shredded or chopped green vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, watercress, and bean sprouts;
• other sliced vegetables such as carrots and cucumber;
• peas;
• tomatoes;
• tofu;
• sliced boiled potatoes; and
• peeled and sliced boiled eggs.

With the exceptions of the eggs and the potatoes, the salad may be served raw, although optionally one may blanch some of the vegetables such as the cabbage and the cauliflower. Some cooks prefer to steam the vegetables. In some areas of Indonesia, they also mix in small amounts of cooked noodles.

[edit] Peanut sauce dressing

What distinguishes gado-gado from a plain vegetable salad is the peanut sauce dressing, which is poured on top of the vegetable salad before serving. The composition of this peanut sauce varies as well. One may use a commercial Indonesian peanut sauce or satay sauce, or make the sauce oneself. For making the sauce, the common primary ingredients are:

• ground fried peanuts with most of the oil drained off (for which some substitute peanut butter and peanut oil)
• garlic
• coconout sugar/palm sugar (can be substituted for brown sugar)
• red chili sauce, cayenne pepper, or red curry powder
• lemon or lime juice

to which some add:

• fish paste
• soy sauce

>>>en.wikipedia.org