Vegetarian Food for Friends

I have to admit I’ve been a bit lazy to date with this project, because I’ve been only choosing pretty simple recipes. Today’s choice seems appropriate for a hot day and since it’s Saturday I have a bit of time on my hands. There is an entire page of directions which is a bit daunting.

Gado Gado is a mainstay of Indonesian cooking, essentially a vegetable salad distinguished by a spicy peanut sauce, usually poured over the salad with a heavy hand. In Indonesia, you can find Gado Gado in hawker’s stalls and have a fresh batch – even the sauce – cooked right in front of you.

The salad itself is cold and consists of a medley of unexpected vegetables such as white cabbage (which I couldn’t find so I’m using savoy cabbage, which is a good substitute because it’s also a mild cabbage), green beans, cucumbers and bean sprouts.

New potatoes provide the foundation for the salad. I began a bit badly by over-boiling the potatoes. But by immediately rinsing them in cold water, draining and then putting in the fridge I think I’ve salvaged them, although I think the texture may be a bit mushy for a salad. The satay sauce has an extensive list of ingredients but makes a fair batch so you could use it for a second meal.

I bought dry roasted peanuts instead of roasting my own. I decided to crush the peanuts as requested the old-fashioned way – with a rolling pin. Easier than cleaning the food processor!

The eggs were a bit fiddly, basically you need to cook an omelette, let it cool, then cut into strips for the desired shape and texture. Dave demonstrated to correct way to flip an omelette, unfortunately I missed the shot.

With a pile of multi-coloured vegetables topped with steaming satay sauce, the salad was visually appealing as well as really tasty. Impressive fare for a dinner party. The recipe is supposed to serve 4 as a main course but I have likely over-estimated the amount of veggies needed because we ended up with enough veggies for the week…

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