Gado-gado with Warm Pindasaus

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large pot for blanching
• •Wide frying pan
• •Small saucepan
• •Broad serving platter
• •Whisk

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook potatoes

   Put the potatoes in salted cold water, bring to a boil, and cook until a knife slides in without resistance, 15 to 18 minutes. During the last 9 minutes, lower in the eggs. Lift the eggs into cold water, drain the potatoes, and let both cool until you can handle them. Peel the eggs and halve them; cut the potatoes into thick coins.

2. 2

   Fry tofu

   Pat the tofu very dry. Heat the neutral oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the cubes until golden on several sides, 6 to 8 minutes. Salt them lightly while they are still in the pan. Tofu is a sponge with opinions; give it colour first, and it will carry the sauce instead of disappearing beneath it.

3. 3

   Blanch vegetables

   Bring a large pot of salted water to a lively boil. Add the green beans and carrots for 3 minutes, add the cabbage for the last minute, and add the bean sprouts for only the final 30 seconds. Scoop everything into very cold water, then drain well. The cold stop is not fussing; it fixes the colour and keeps the vegetables from sagging under the sauce.

   Bean sprouts must smell clean and green. If they smell sour or feel slippery, bin them; they have told you enough.
4. 4

   Make pindasaus

   In a small saucepan, whisk the peanut butter, coconut milk, water, garlic, sambal oelek, ketjap manis, tamarind or lime, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt over low heat. Let it bubble gently for 3 to 4 minutes, whisking until smooth. Thin with a spoonful of water at a time until it falls from the spoon in a thick ribbon. Hard boiling makes peanut sauce split and sulk, and nobody invited that to dinner.

   Unsweetened peanut butter is the honest shortcut. Sweetened peanut butter makes the sauce clumsy; the sweetness should come from ketjap manis and palm sugar, not from a breakfast jar.
5. 5

   Build platter

   Arrange the potatoes, beans, carrots, cabbage, bean sprouts, cucumber, tofu, and egg halves in loose sections on a broad platter. Spoon some warm pindasaus over the centre and leave the rest in a bowl for the table. Scatter with crushed peanuts and fried shallots, and serve with krupuk or emping. The first proper mixing happens on the plate, which is exactly what the name promised.

Chef Tips

• •Pindasaus should taste of peanuts first, sweet soy second, and chile last. If it tastes sugary, add tamarind or lime and a pinch of salt until it stands upright again.
• •The calendar sets this dish more than rules do. In Dutch summer, green beans and cucumber are right; in winter, lean harder on cabbage, carrot, sprouts, and potato. Gado-gado is a grammar, not a prison.
• •Krupuk is often made with shrimp. For a vegetarian table, serve emping, the crisp melinjo cracker, or a clearly vegetarian krupuk.
• •Dress the platter just before serving. Pindasaus thickens as it cools and vegetables give off water if they wait too long under it.
• •A cold pils or a dry Riesling suits the sauce better than a heavy red wine. Peanut and chile want a glass that cleans the mouth, not one that argues back.

Advance Preparation

• •The potatoes, eggs, and blanched vegetables can be prepared one day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator; bring them close to room temperature before serving.
• •The pindasaus keeps for three days refrigerated. Rewarm gently with a splash of water, whisking until it loosens again.
• •Fry the tofu the same day if you can. It is still edible after refrigeration, of course, but its golden edges soften, and those edges are doing real work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)