Gado-Gado: The Ultimate Indonesian Peanut Sauce Salad
- 28 Sep 2026 22:36 WIB
- Voice of Indonesia
RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Gado-gado is a popular Indonesian warm vegetable salad served with a rich, freshly ground peanut sauce. The dish combines vegetables, tofu, tempeh, eggs, and lontong into a filling traditional meal.
Gado-gado can be found widely across Indonesia, from street food carts and small food stalls to restaurants and hotels. Indonesian-style restaurants abroad also serve the dish as an introduction to local flavors.
Its vegetable mixture can include potatoes, long beans, bean sprouts, spinach, chayote, bitter gourd, corn, and cabbage. These ingredients are combined with fried tofu, tempeh, and hard-boiled eggs before being coated with peanut sauce.
The peanut sauce is the main component that brings the ingredients together. It commonly uses fried ground peanuts, palm sugar, chilies, shrimp paste, salt, tamarind juice, lime juice, and water.
The ingredients are traditionally mixed and ground using a pestle and a traditional flat stone mortar. This preparation allows the sauce to develop a rich texture while letting each ingredient contribute its distinct flavor.
Gado-gado is generally prepared fresh, sometimes directly in front of customers. The amount of chili can also be adjusted according to individual preferences, making the dish suitable for different levels of spiciness.
Lontong, or rice cake wrapped and cooked in banana leaves, is another common component of gado-gado. The dish is also traditionally accompanied by round, crunchy tapioca crackers known as kerupuk.
The combination of blanched vegetables, protein-rich tofu and tempeh, eggs, lontong, and peanut sauce makes gado-gado a substantial meal. Its varied ingredients also reflect the flexibility of Indonesian cooking in combining local produce.
For travelers exploring Indonesian cuisine, gado-gado is one traditional dish worth trying. Its blanched vegetables, savory peanut sauce, and customizable spiciness offer a distinctive taste of everyday Indonesian food culture.
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