Dinner Ideas Bali – Gado Gado – Fun to say, fun to eat, this traditional Indonesian salad is probably the only recipe where you can put the words “blanched vegetables” and “sweet” in the same sentence and actually mean it. That gado gado peanut sauce is a miracle!
This is a dish for the veg-hating kids in all of us. Ingenious Indonesians have found a way to make a simple vegetable absolutely irresistible to everyone – by adding a delicious Indonesian peanut sauce!
Dinner Ideas Bali
Because seriously – if you put a big plate of steamed vegetables in front of me and call it dinner, I’m going to look at you like you’ve lost your mind.
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But then when the peanut sauce starts to appear…. Suddenly, dinner becomes more delicious. Crazy car! We love saying the word, we love how colorful it is, we love eating it, and we really love how good it makes us feel, we hate too many vegetables for dinner!
“Gado Gado” means “mix-mix” apt for this versatile dish that can be made with any combination of vegetables.
When made from scratch, it’s slightly bitter, with roasted nuts (and it’s hard to make it perfectly smooth), a handful of aromatics like lemongrass, galangal, garlic, Southeast Asian “umami” from shrimp paste, and sauces.
So I take a difficult but very effective shortcut by using Thai red curry paste. It has the same ingredients, and saves a lot of time, effort and money. Win, win, win!
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The whole point of gado gado is variety, so while gado gado in Indonesia will usually be served with one or two ingredients you might not be familiar with (like morning glory, karela, chayote), you’ll probably recognize several. components.
Spinach, bean sprouts, eggs, and cucumber are commonly included, so I included them in mine. Potatoes are my starch of choice, although you can easily substitute rice, or leave out a more filling vegetable like broccoli or cauliflower.
It’s good to include different varieties and colors, as well as starches, to make it a satisfying meal. Any potato, or something like pumpkin, or vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower are great for filling this salad to make it a filling meal.
One ingredient to check out above that you may not be familiar with is temeh. Tempeh is a fermented soybean product from Indonesia that vegetarians go crazy for!😂
Nasi Goreng (indonesian Fried Rice)
It has a similar texture to firm tofu, but is sweeter and has a nutty flavor – like sunflower seeds. Today, it is found in the tofu section of supermarkets in Australia (Wools, Coles, Harris Farms).
Absolutely beautiful. Substitute crispy tofu (included in the recipe) or leave it out and add another vegetable!
Oh – I haven’t talked about crow crackers yet. Traditionally they are served with a side of gado gado – a luxury that can double as a side dish.
I feel like Gado Gado has so many ingredients as it is, it’s like the cherry on top. It’s – I put it in when I make it for friends, unless it’s my fast food, I leave it out.
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Buy a ready-made bag, fry them yourself (you’ll find raw prawn crackers in the Asian section of most supermarkets today) or a quick no-fry microwave option – just place 8 to 10 on the edge of the microwave turntable and microwave. 20 to 30 seconds. (Yes indeed, it works 100%).
Gado Gado is a large salad meant to be served as a main course salad. But it also works well as part of a share distribution. The recipe below is for 2 people, but it can easily serve 4 people if you add a side of nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice) or mee goreng (Indonesian noodles).
If you want to add rice to the meal, add coconut rice (people eat coconut rice and peanut sauce!).
It goes well, is a dish that can be served at room temperature (tameh aside), and reheats quickly if you choose (vegetables reheat quickly).
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But mostly, think of carts as a way to eat more vegetables in a more flavorful way. I mean, you
Light up another green smoothie that tastes like grass (because you’re so passionate about kale, you’re thinking well if I do this, I might as well load it up), that you force yourself to drink every now and then. pushing When you pick your nose.
Or you can do what the Indonesians do – cook a bunch of vegetables and drink them with peanut sauce.
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Gado Gado (indonesian Salad With Peanut Sauce)
Video of above recipe. Fun to say, fun to eat, Gado Gado Peanut Sauce will turn any vegetable into a big, healthy, delicious meal! Use whatever vegetables you want – I used them in the spirit of traditional Indonesian gado gado. A shortcut is to use Thai red curry paste – it uses many of the ingredients used in gado gado sauce. Save time, effort and money!
All vegetables can be hot or at room temperature, so cook them first. The tempeh/tofu is perfectly hot and crispy right out of the skillet.
1. Peanut Butter – Use natural/pure peanut butter without sugar, oil or other additives. It has a very strong peanut flavor so the sauce is delicious. If you use kraft or other peanut butter with added sugar and spreads, it’s still delicious but:
A) the sauce will not be like peanuts (and if you add more, the sauce will be too big); and b) skip the kakep menis, use black sauce instead, otherwise the peanut sauce will be too sweet.
Peanut Butter Chicken
2. Red Curry Paste – Regular readers know that I am very loyal to Maesri brand Thai curry paste! The best is available to the general public (here in Australia), and it’s the cheapest. Small tins ~$1.50, large ones sold at Woolworths, Coles, all Harris Farms and Asian stores. I use it for red, green and massaman curries (even the epic lamb shank massaman from Friday!).
3. Kecap Manis (sometimes called Katjap Manis) is a sweet Indonesian soy sauce that is thicker than other soy sauces. Sometimes it is simply written as “sweet soy sauce”. The consistency is similar to maple syrup, which is available in most Australian supermarkets (Woolworths, Coles, Harris Farms).
6. Crane Crackers – Traditionally served on the side, great for creating a crunch/bite. Buy them or make them yourself (sold in Aussie supermarkets in the Asian section). Bake each packet or make a fat-free version using the microwave – place 8 to 10 on the edge of the turntable, microwave for 20 to 30 seconds. They will puff up and become crispy, like they are fried!
7. Tempeh – A traditional Indonesian ingredient made from fermented soybeans, it’s similar to firm tofu except it tastes like almonds (a type of sunflower seed). Fry until golden without a nice sheen. Vegetarians go crazy for it! Best served hot from the skillet – so addictive (especially with the peanut sauce!).
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Tofu – Dust with flour to make it crispy. Dry, sprinkle with table salt and pepper, then before cooking, lightly dust with flour.
8. Storage – Make more sauce than you’ll need (it’s hard to make less), it keeps for 5 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. Use it for a quick vegetable salad or for dunking!
Reheat cooked vegetables – Spinach and beans boil water when reheated, so reheat them separately before mixing.
9. Nutritional value per serving, assuming half the sauce is used (about 1/3 cup per serving – very generous!). Most of the calories are in the sauce because of the almonds, then the oil for cooking the tempeh, then the eggs and the potatoes. This is the filling used for the main course!
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Calories: 572 cal (29%) Carbohydrates: 48 g (16%) Protein: 32 g (64%) Fat: 33 g (51%) Saturated fat: 10 g (63%) Cholesterol: 187 mg (62%) Sodium: 502 mg (22%) Potassium: 1796 mg (51%) Fiber: 10 g (42%) Sugar: 15 g (17%) Vitamin A: 8232 IU (165%) Vitamin C: 77 mg (93%) Calcium: 243 mg (24%) Iron: 9 mg (50%)
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I believe that even if you are short on time and cost conscious, you can still make great meals with everyday ingredients. You just need to cook smart and be creative!’The Island of the Gods deserves food to match,’ and this statement rings truer than ever as Bali’s culinary scene blossoms from Kutu to Kubu. From the Wonka-esque gastronomic wonderland in the jungle-hugged heart of Ubud to the American-style steakhouses on the main streets of Seminyak, every corner of the island is full of surprises to tickle the taste buds.
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