Blanched Vegetables With Peanut Sauce
Origin: Jakarta; Source: My best Friend Ipa
Ingredients
- 100 g long bean / French bean, cut into 3 cm length
- 150 g waterspinach / spinach, cut into 2 cm length
- 5 pc sheets white cabbage / chinese cabbage, cut into 3 cm length
- 100 g beansprouts, the brown-ends discarded
- 2 pc big-size potatoes, boiled, peeled and sliced
- 2 pc hard-boiled eggs, halved or quartered
- 200 g tempeh, sliced
- 200 g tofu, sliced
For Peanut Sauce
- 200 g roasted peanut, blended or Pindakaas
- 250 ml thick coconut milk
- 3 pc kaffir lime leaves
- 1 tsp brown / palm sugar
- 2 tbsp tamarind water (1 tsp tamarind pulp soaked in 2 tbsp water)
- 2 tsp Indonesian sweet soya sauce / kecap manis
Spice for the peanut sauce
- 2 pc large red Chillis, de-seeded, chopped
- 5 pc shallots, chopped
- 3 gloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
Blanched Vegetables With Peanut Sauce
Gado-Gado is one among the famous Indonesian traditional dishes, listed in 30 Indonesian Culinary Icons which is consisted of cooked vegetables served with a peanut sauce dressing. Although many western people describe it simply as a salad, in Indonesia this dish could be eaten as a main meal. Typical Indonesian ha ha ha ;-). This is true!! Coz I myself eat it often any time at any occasions.Currently I've seen it often as a part of set menu in various festival and parties. No wonder … Gado Gado with it's richness of vegetables and delicate sauce is looked very attractive and it might be intrigued your stomach's acid 🙂If you like it HOT you can just add chilli sauce or sambal oelek on it.Anyway in this recipe I describe two choices of ingredient to prepare the peanut sauce. Personally I would say using the raw peanut is the best way to obtain the optimum result. But in case you might be a little bit intimidated by the long list of ingredients, then using the Pindakaas or ready blended roasted peanut as a short cut is the best choice to spare your energy & time. Though it's taste is not perfect as using the raw peanut but it isn't so bad at all. I only suggest you, avoid the instant sauce from the market otherwise you could have ruined your delicate Gado Gado.
Instructions
- Boil potatoes and egg until well cooked. Let it cool until cool enough to handle and slice.
- For peanut sauce: Put all ingredients for the paste in a blender & blend until smooth.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a saucepan, stir-fry the paste & kaffir-lime leaves until fragrant. Pour in the coconut milk. Add the tamarind water and brown sugar. Stir to mix and bring to boil.
- Add the peanut powder / pindakaas, simmer and stirring occationally until the sauce becomes thick.
- Add the Indonesian sweet soya sauce/kecap manis. Stir to mix and remove from heat.
- For vegetables: Pour in enough water in a medium-size of saucepan. Bring to boil.
- Blanch the vegetables separately and set to drain in a colander.
- Attention: Boil the water spinach/ spinach and beansprouts for about 1-2 minutes only to prevent overcooked.
- For tempe and tofu: Slice, soak in a salt water & deep-frying until half cooked / well cooked. Set aside to drain.
- (Look at "Fried Tempe & Tofu" for detailed instructions.)
- Serving Method for Gado-Gado: Arrange the potatoes, tofu, tempeh and egg around the edge of serving plate. Put the vegetables somewhere in the middle of the plate.
- Pour the sauce on the top. Garnish with kerupuk udang (shrimp crackers) or emping. Add the "Sambal Bawang" if you like it SPICY!!
Note for the peanut sauce
- 1st > If using raw peanut: Stir-fry the peanut in a fryingpan until light brown (5 minutes) then blend in a blender into a smooth powder.
- 2nd > If you prefer a short cut method by using Pindakaas (Dutch peanut butter), you can use it right away.
