Gado Gado: a recipe from Bali

I don't know if you've ever tried Gado Gado, when I went to Bali it was my first time. Can you believe it that Indonesians have a vegetable dish with Peanut Sauce, how tempting is that?

Before you twist your nose and think "What with peanut sauce?!" I want to mention that I'm not talking about Peanut Butter, or the peanut sauce that you can find in some of the western countries. My experience with that came from Chicken Satay and peanut sauce in the Netherlands. Nay, nothing like that.

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Peanut Sauce is done at home, with a typical mortar, out of fried peanuts, garlic, candle nuts and some spices. Can you imagine the incredible aroma coming from the pot while you are crushing all the ingredients? I can still remember that!

During the cooking class in Bali we prepared all the dishes from scratch and it was incredible.

Enjoy this delicious balinese experience!

Ingredients (4 people)

• 150 gr shredded cabbage

• 70 gr bean sprouts

• 140 gr long green beans

• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped

• 150 gr hard tofu, cut in cubes (2 cm)

• 1 lime

• 100 ml water

• 1 chili

• Sauce:

• 150 gr fried peanuts

• 1 clove garlic

• 5 cm lesser galangal (if you find it)

• 1 candle nut (or 4 macadamia nuts)

• 2 tbsp soy sauce gluten-free

• 1 tbsp coconut sugar

• A pinch of salt

MAKING GADO GADO

1. Prepare the sauce by frying the peanuts first. Slice the chili, chop the lesser galangal and then crush them with the peanuts, garlic and candle nut in the mortar. Add the water little by little, as needed, to make sure that the ingredients blend into a paste. The traditional pestle it's very heavy and works the ingredients easily, you might want to use a food processor at home.

2. After the paste is homogeneous, transfer it into a pan with the rest of the water, add soy sauce, sugar salt and lime. Mix over low heat until the water absorbs and the sauce remains creamy. Set aside.

3. Shred the cabbage and cut the green beans in strings of 4-5 cm. Boil water in a pan and cook the cabbage, beans and bean sprouts for 2-3 minutes. Fry the tofu separately.

4. Mix the blanched vegetables and tofu together, then add the cucumber and the sauce. You can gently mix everything with a wooden spoon, or even better with your hands. Serve at room temperature, or keep in the fridge shortly if needed.

A REAL BALINESE EXPERIENCE

It was a fantastic experience that I would absolutely recommend. Not only we got to learn how to prepare this food, how to recognise the local roots and spices, but we were also welcomed in the local community and traditional household.

Learning about the traditional Balinese community and lifestyle was the most amazing part and I can't wait to be back.

If you're curious about this experience you can find more information on the Ubad Ubud Bali page.

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