Indonesian gado-gado: tempeh and veg salad with peanut sauce

his is what you can make with tempeh: gado-gado, a real Indonesian staple. It can be served as a main dish or a side. First time I tried it in the Sumatran hinterland. It dominated our lunch although there were many other dishes. The combination of crunchy, soft and chewy ingredients and the spicy-sweet aromatic sauce won me over in an instant. Once we stood up from the meal, the bill was served: 50 cent a head.

Gado-gado stands for "mix-mix" in Bahasa Indonesia so nearly anything goes into it. That said, certain things never do: e.g., tomatoes, croutons or ruccola. I prefer to improvise within the limits that Indonesian themselves find acceptable. This time I made it with

• blanched pak choy,
  
• blanched carrot,
  
• a boiled egg,
  
• fried tempeh (the crucial ingredient for me as it is so quintessentially Indonesian!)
  
• raw or blanched bean sprouts.
  

You can also use

• diced boiled potatoes,
  
• raw or blanched lettuce,
  
• blanched string beans,
  
• fried onions,
  
• blanched bean sprouts

without straying a bit from authenticity. Indonesians put them all in gado-gado.

Normally gado-gado is drenched with peanut sauce but I also have it with just sambal manis, as on the picture. Instant peanut sauce, sambal pecel, as in the picture below is available in most ethnic groceries in Amsterdam but I yet have to track it down in London. You only need to dissolve it in hot water or coconut milk. I also add some crushed lemon grass, shredded kaffir lime leaves and galangal powder. Making your own is not complicated but you need to line up all the right ingredients. I will post the recipe when I get around to that (feel free to prod me!).

Serve gado-gado with freshly cooked long-grain rice.

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