Submitted by Guy Vandenberg, RN, MSW, HIV Clinical Specialist, ZSFG
My Story
This recipe is loosely based on the Indonesian Gado-Gado that I remember from my childhood in the Netherlands. Indonesia threw off the Dutch colonial yoke in 1948, but Indonesia remains a strong presence in Dutch culture and cuisine. As a grownup, I have encountered many versions of this salad in West African and Brazilian cuisine, and especially in East Africa, where it is known as Sukuma Wiki na Karanga*. In the Middle East and North Africa you may find salads or roasted vegetable dishes where tahini is used instead of peanut butter.
The peanut sauce (or dressing) is the star of this show. It is easy to make and packed with nutrients and flavors. It also is adaptable to your individual palate, and versatile in its use as a dressing or sauce for a large variety of dishes. It invites experimentation, and that is part of the fun of cooking (and eating!). You will want to aim for the right levels of salty, sweet, acidity, spicy-hot, and umami. But even though the peanut sauce is the star, the combination of vegetables, starches, garnishes, and other ingredients you choose may very well win the Oscar for best supporting role.
Recipe
Ingredients
For the sauce/dressing:
1 cup peanut butter
3 to 5 TBSP ketjap manis (Indonesian
sweet soy sauce) or
3 TBSP regular soy sauce
2 TBSP honey, maple syrup, or
other sweetener
1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
Juice of 2 limes (or 3 TBSP of rice vinegar)
1 to 5 tsp Sambal Oelek (or Siracha or Piri-Piri, or other thick hot pepper sauce)
depending on your heat tolerance level
1 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped and mushed with a pinch of salt into a thick paste
½ to 1 ½ inch ginger (optional) chopped and ground
1+ tsp fish sauce (optional)
2+ TBSP warm water as needed to achieve desired thickness
Preparation
Mix the peanut butter with some of the water and lime juice in a small bowl and add the other ingredients bit by bit, tasting frequently until you achieve the desired consistency and flavor.
Remember that this is the sauce or dressing for your dish, so don’t be too timid!
Ingredients for the salad:
Half a sliced (or cubed) cucumber. If using an English cucumber, I wash it but don’t peel it. When using other cucumbers, it depends on how bitter the peel tastes.
½ cup of mung bean sprouts
1 diced red bell pepper
One or more of the following:
1 cup of rice noodles (or wheat, soba, or other stringy noodle) cooked to be al dente
1 cup of spinach, collards, sweet potato leaves, or other greens, lightly sautéed in oil
1 handful of green beans, blanched or parboiled
1 cup of carrot or other root vegetable, sautéed or roasted but still crunchy
Garnishes:
All of these are optional and should be served in separate bowls, which will allow people to create their own preferred combinations and adhere to their individual diets.
½ bunch cilantro/coriander leaves, chopped
2 green onions, sliced thinly
1 cup of fried or sautéed firm and crispy tofu, salted (and/or chicken)
4 hardboiled eggs, quartered
1 cup of shrimp chips (called krupuk in Indonesia)
½ cup of toasted, salted crickets or termites (Chile-Lime Crickets & Pumpkin seeds available from www.donbugito.com)
½ cup of sweet coconut flakes, toasted, salted, and mixed with turmeric, fried onion, garlic, fish sauce, lemongrass, kafffir lime leaves, and tamarind, (this is called Serundeng in Indonesia)
1 cup of boiled or grilled (small) shrimp
Sambal, or Siracha, or other red pepper & garlic sauce
Preparation and serving suggestions:
Mix the vegetables and starches (if using) together in a large bowl and toss with enough of the sauce to lightly coat everything. Serve the remaining sauce in a separate bowl for people to their plate add as desired (and yes: you are probably going to have some sauce left over in the end. You can thank me later). Transfer the tossed salad to a large serving platter or large shallow bowl and lightly sprinkle with some of the green onion and/or coriander greens. Arrange the bowls of garnishes around the main serving platter. I work at a clinic with a large diversity of coworkers who each have their own cultural and dietary rules and preferences (from Halal and Kosher to Vegan, Lacto-ovo, Pescatarian, and Paleo-carnivorous), and I found this dish to be the most popular among all of the ones we bring to share at our clinic potlucks and other events. I hope you enjoy it too and that you will develop your own variations!
* Sukuma Wiki is Swahili for “push the week”. It is the name given to the vegetables you can still afford to buy (or find growing in the wild) when your wallet is almost empty and you are waiting for your next payday. It is usually green leafy vegetables, but can be roots, tubers, or edible foliage. The peanuts (karanga) add taste and valuable protein.
Photo Credit: Google Images
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