Mama Miskah's Gado-Gado Recipe

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024b - Indonesia - Gili Air Side Story

Mama Miskah's Gado-Gado
written by Hannah

In all honesty, gado-gado is one of the milder Indonesian dishes, which means it has more flavor and less heat. Wilted spinach covered with a liquefied sweet peanut sauce and decorated with cucumbers and fried tofu. Those of you who know me well know I have a major sweet tooth, and will combine almost anything sweet with peanut butter (marshmallows, honey, chocolate, etc.). So the fact that this dish became an immediate favorite shouldn't be surprising.

Ingredients
2 large bunches of regular spinach (~2lbs, not baby spinach) - wilted
1 cucumber - halved length wise and cut into 1/4” pieces
1 small package tofu - cut into small pieces and fried
6-8 shallots - sliced thin
6-8 cloves garlic - sliced thin
16 oz raw peanuts (not roasted or salted)
1+ cups vegetable oil for frying
*2-6 small chili peppers (small green and red, about 1” long)
¼ cup sweet soya sauce (no idea where you get this in the US, but it's a thick sweet version of soy sauce)
small lemon or 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Method
Wilt spinach by boiling or steaming, set aside to cool.
Heat oil enough for frying, but not burning.
Fry sliced garlic until brown - remove and drain
Fry sliced shallots until brown and crisp - remove and drain
Fry peanuts about 5 min or until regular popping noises are heard - remove and drain
Fry tofu until golden brown (no flour or batter required)

In food processor or blender combine peanuts, garlic, shallots, dash of salt, dash of white sugar, and 3-4 Tablespoon of water. *Add chillies if desired, 2 or 3 is sufficient for taste, add more if you like things spicy. Keep a small portion of fried shallots out for decoration.

The consistency should be a little more runny than apple sauce, add water to change consistency. Transfer to a bowl and stir in ~1 teaspoon lemon juice, and ¼ cup sweet soya sauce. If you've ever tried peanut sate this is roughly the same taste.

Place spinach on serving platter, decorate with cucumbers and fried tofu. Spoon sauce over the entire dish. Swirl sweet soya over and sprinkle remaining fried shallots on top. Serve with a smile and optional steamed rice! For a true 'Do It Like The Locals' sasak experience ditch the silverware and eat with your fingers (right hand only)!

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Photos

Tasting... mmm...
Always eat with your right hand!

Comments

[Liana]

heck yeah
I'm totally going to try to make this next week. It sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing the recipe.