Gado Gado

My mother and my daughter, Kate, recently cooked Gado Gado for the family.  It was a big hit with everyone.  For those of you who haven't heard of Gado Gado, it is a traditional Indonesian dish consisting of a plate of vegetables, eggs, and tofu served with a seasoned peanut sauce.

The recipe they used was adapted from the More-with-less Cookbook (by the Mennonite Central Committee).
 

SAUCE INGREDIENTS (serves 8)
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
3 tbsp oil
1 cup boiling water
2 cups crunchy peanut butter
2 tbsp honey
1-2 tsp Tabasco sauce or finely chopped fresh hot peppers
juice and rind of 1 lemon
2 crushed bay leaves – remove before serving
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
salt to taste
3 cups milk (some could be vegetable stock) 

METHOD:

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in oil until lightly browned
2. Stir in boiling water, peanut butter and remaining
ingredients except milk or stock
3. Cook sauce over medium heat until very hot and peanut
 butter has melted and blended in
4. Gradually stir in the milk; cook a few more minutes.
5. Serve sauce, hot or cold, over raw or cooked vegetables.

INDONESIAN VEGETABLE PLATTER – use some of the following:
½ small head cabbage (lightly steam until tender crisp)
green beans (lightly steam until tender crisp)
bean sprouts
spinach
sliced cucumber
1 small head cauliflower cut into flowerets
carrots finely sliced or grated
finely shredded lettuce
radishes- sliced
firm tofu cubed and sautéed
4 hard boiled eggs – quartered

The bowls of vegetables, eggs, and tofu looked fantastic!

The peanut sauce tasted yummy!

We all loved it!

But .... it just didn't look very pretty.  

Perhaps you could focus on the gorgeous quinoa salad or the potato salad we had.  I'll have to work on styling the gado gado a bit more - poor thing.

If you make it - and you should - I recommend you just close your eyes and enjoy!

Linked to Recipes at Remodelaholic