Mixed Vegetable Salad With Peanut Sauce (gado-gado)

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 package chinese-style firm tofu
• 1 teaspoon ketjap manis
• oil (for deep frying)
• 6 cups vegetables
• hard-cooked egg, for garnish
• fried onion flakes (to garnish)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1 tablespoon minced, fresh galangal or 1 teaspoon ground galangal
• 1 teaspoon dried shrimp paste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground dried chile or 1/4 teaspoon sambal oelek
• 1 cup oil
• 1/2 cup raw peanuts
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar or 1 teaspoon palm sugar
• 1 cup thin coconut milk (the thin stuff from the bottom of a can of coconut milk.)
• salt, to taste
• 1/2 lime, juice of, , to taste

Recipe

• 1 (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.
• 2 this is from a new cookbook i just got.
• 3 haven't tried this recipe yet, but it looks dead on.
• 4 this is a rather free-form salad of lightly cooked vegetables; the exact contents depend on what is available.
• 5 what makes it gado-gado is the dressing, a creamy peanut sauce.
• 6 remove tofu from package and drain.
• 7 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.
• 8 let stand for 30 minutes, unwrap, and discard liquid.
• 9 cut tofu into bite-sized squares or triangles and sprinkle with kecap manis.
• 10 fry in 350f oil until golden brown and puffy; transfer to paper towels to drain.
• 11 reserve oil to cook peanuts.
• 12 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.
• 13 cabbage and bean sprouts require only a few seconds; carrots, green beans, and potatoes may take several minutes depending on size and tenderness.
• 14 do not blanch cucumbers, watercress, and tomatoes.
• 15 use them raw.
• 16 place gado-gado sauce in a small bowl in the center of a large platter.
• 17 arrange vegetables on platter around sauce.
• 18 garnish with wedges or slices of hard-cooked egg and fried onion flakes.
• 19 to serve, spoon some sauce onto each plate and dip vegetables into sauce.
• 20 serves 4 to 6 with other dishes.
• 21 --------------gado-gadosauce----------------.
• 22 to prepare sauce in a mortar: pound garlic, shallot, galangal, shrimp paste, and chile to a paste.
• 23 to prepare sauce in a blender: chop together in a 1-cup jar.
• 24 in a wok or deep skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until a peanut sizzles on contact.
• 25 fry peanuts until lightly browned; transfer to paper towels to drain.
• 26 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.
• 27 (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.
• 28 return pan to medium-low heat and add pounded mixture.
• 29 cook until quite fragrant, but do not burn.
• 30 add peanuts, sugar, and coconut milk and bring to a boil, stirring.
• 31 simmer until thick and season to taste with salt and lime juice.
• 32 allow to coot to room temperature before serving.