Gado Gado

(not my picture)

Whenever I boil potatoes I tend to do extra to keep in the fridge, ready to put something quick together the next day. This traditional Indonesian salad is a good option. It's not often seen in the UK, but it's really delicious and makes  a good dinner or quite a substantial lunch. If you make the sauce ahead of time and keep it sealed in the fridge, you can put this together in no time when you're ready to eat. 

SAUCE INGREDIENTS

• 200g peanut butter
• 1 small red onion
• 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, or a dessert spoon of puree
• 200 ml coconut milk
• 2 chilis - or Sriracha sauce works well
• Lime juice
• Fish sauce - teaspoon
• 1 dessert spoon brown sugar
• Peanut oil or other veg oil
• Salt if needed

METHOD

1. Gently soften the chopped onion in oil in a non-stick saucepan
2. Add the garlic for 2 minutes
3. Add the chili for a minute
4. Add the coconut milk, peanut butter, sugar, and a teaspoon or so of fish sauce
5. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently
6. Cool, add the lime juice, and adjust sugar/fish sauce/salt.

SALAD INGREDIENTS

• Hard boiled eggs
• Green beans - blanched/par boiled
• Boiled potatoes
• Beansprouts - apparently you shouldn't eat them raw, so blanch and cool
• Radishes
• Something for a crisp texture, such as prawn crackers (easiest) or pork crackling (optional)

METHOD

1. Chop it up
2. Mix it up
3. Pour-on the sauce and mix-in
4. Put crackers on top
5. Eat it

You can vary the salad ingredients to suit your liking, to include for example lettuce, tomato, cucumber, whatever you have. When all is said and done, Gado Gado is largely about the peanut sauce. I'd definitely always include the eggs, potatoes and beansprouts though.

An alternate presentation is to arrange on a platter with a bowl of the sauce and dip into it buffet style.