Gado Gado Indonesian Salad

Toronto is so multicultural that authentic restaurants of different cuisines are everywhere, yet Indonesian restaurants are rare to find. 

I love South-East Asian cuisine, particularly their salads. Mango salad is quite well known, but there are also some other delicious ones like papaya salad in which the main ingredients are shredded green and crunchy sour papayas. There is also a cool Thai one call "million gold", which you assemble each bite by wrapping a piece of raw garlic, a sliced of greed chili, and some toasted peanuts with a piece of basil leaf. Each bite is packed with texture and flavor.

Then there is Gado Gado from Indonesia. "Gado Gado" in Indonesian means "mix-mix". Because of the catchy name and the delicious dressing, I requested this same dish whenever I visited an Indonesian restaurant when I was small. After I moved to Toronto I wanted to replicate this dish in my kitchen but was disappointed that I couldn't find the sauce. After many years of longing, surprisingly I found the Gado Gado sauce in Amsterdam! This dish is so healthy and very easy to make. If you find the Gado Gado sauce in North America please let me know. If not, using peanut satay paste is fine too.

Here is the Gado Gado salad from my kitchen:

Ingredients 

Yellow potato

Green beans

Bean sprouts

Eggs, hard boiled 

Deep fried tofu balls

Chicken breast or thigh, boneless, skinned and steamed

Shrimp crackers (found in Asian supermarket chip section)

Prepare the portion of the ingredients to your like. Skip the meat if you want a vegetarian dish. The original Gado Gado does not contain any meat but I added the chicken for extra protein.

Dressing (per person)

3 tbs. of satay paste

1-1/2 tbs. of coconut milk

Mix the satay paste and coconut milk together and adjust the consistency with either more coconut milk or water. The dressing should be more runny than ketchup but thicker than olive oil, like the consistency of cream soup. 

Shrimp Chips found in Asian supermarket

Deep fried tofu balls

How

1. If you use chicken, salt and steam it first.
2. Fill a 12" pot with water to half full and in goes the eggs.  Heat it up to a boil then turn the heat down to medium. Set the timer for 15 minutes.
3. While the water is heating up, peel and dice the potatoes into 1" cubes. Add them into the same pot of water.
   
4. Wash the deep fried tofu balls. Squeeze out the excess oil during the washing process. Add them into the pot of water.
   
5. Cut the ends off the green beans and set aside.
   
6. Wash and drain the bean sprouts and set aside.
7. After 8 -10 minutes, check the potatoes. They should be just cooked. Cook longer if needed. Remove them from the pot using a slotted spoon and drain.
   
8. Remove the deep fried tofu balls and squeeze out the excess water. When they are cool enough to handle, cut them in halves and set aside.
   
9. Add green beans into the same pot of water and cook them for 2 minutes. Remove green beans from the pot and rinse them under cold water. Drain and set aside.
   
10. Use the same pot of water to cook the bean sprouts for 1 minutes. Remove, rinse under cold water, drain and set aside.
11. After at least 15 minutes from the water was boiled, the eggs are fully cooked. Remove the eggs from the pot, crack the shells and rinse them under cold water. Pill the shells and cut the eggs into quarters.
12. To serve, assemble all the ingredients on a serving plate for each person. Put the dressing on the side. Dip the dressing while eating for mix the dressing in with all the ingredients.