Week 1 - Gado-Gado

 Gado-Gado

Recipe 1 of 52 in 2022

Salad #1

    Recipe 1 of 52 in 2022 in my 52 recipes in 2022 self-challenge, is an Indonesian salad.  The recipe is included in Favorite Recipes of America - Salads. It was submitted for inclusion by "Mrs. Mort B. Brigadier, Officer's Wive's Club, Canal Zone, Rep of Panama". This 1968 cookbook is part of a set of four which were sold in a cute little 'box' sleeve/cover. I was lucky enough to find the entire set quite a number of years ago.  

    This recipe was a little bit of a pain, but would be easier if you prep the vegetables the day before or earlier in the day.  Although I said it felt like a pain, I am saying that, because I was making it after work and it felt like a lot. As I was preparing this recipe, I was skeptical of how I'd like the mixture of flavors, but I did end up really enjoying this salad dish.  I served my Gado-Gado over white rice, but this would be good by itself or brown rice.  Maybe even quinoa. All I know is that I'm going to take a dish over leftovers just by itself for lunch at work tomorrow, and I know I would definitely make this again. 

    The recipe makes about eight servings, depending on your serving size. 

Ingredients:

1 lb bean sprouts

1/2 lb cabbage, chopped

1/2 lb green beans, chopped

1 tsp salt

2 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp soy sauce (I used a dumpling sauce, which has soy sauce in it (I didn't have plain soy sauce) and it worked just fine as a substitute)

1 onion, sliced (I used a medium to large sized onion)

1 or 2 cloves of garlic, chopped and fried

1 tsp ground red pepper (I used a spicy red pepper mix by Ariel's Spices)

1/4 to 1/2 lb peanut butter (I used chunky; perfect for this recipe)

1 cucumber, sliced

1 bunch radishes sliced (I used about 8 radishes from a bag I had bought; I had to go to four stores to find radishes) 

2 hard boiled eggs, sliced

(optional) red chili pepper flakes 

Directions:

Remember to wash all of your vegetables before cooking. Parboil the bean sprouts, green beans and cabbage "in a small amount of water" for several minutes. I  used 3/4 to 1 cup water in the largest skillet I have.  3/4 cup water would be a good starting point if you try this recipe, and because of volume of the vegetables, using a large pot may work better for the par-boiling.  I used large kitchen tongs to carefully toss my ingredients, as they cooked down and it did work out just fine. If using a skillet, take care when you are par-boiling the vegetables. I did not measure how much time I par-boiled this mixture, but you'll want to cook them to where they are softened, but still have a bit of crunch.  When your vegetable are cooked, drain the vegetables and reserve the stock. Return the stock to your pan and stir in the salt, brown sugar, lemon juice, soy sauce, onion, garlic, red pepper and peanut butter. You need to make sure to cook the peanut butter down.  It will melt into the sauce. 

The original recipe says to layer the cabbage, beans, bean sprouts, cucumber and radishes in a salad bowl. This didn't sound right to me, so I used a large casserole dish. I spooned the cabbage, beans and bean sprouts mixture into the bottom, followed by a layer of my cucumber slices, then the radishes and finally the sliced egg.  The original recipe says to serve the peanut butter dressing with the salad. I did not. I poured it directly over top of the salad. And you know what? It was perfect.  Sprinkle with red chili pepper flakes for extra kick. 

Try this salad out and let me know what you think.  

A side view of Gado-Gado salad

Layered vegetable and sliced egg

Gado-Gado salad

Gado-Gado salad over rice