Gado Gado salad

[SmokinAl]

We were in Hawaii several years ago and we went to a restaurant. I believe it was an Indonesian restaurant and they had this Gado Gado salad. We have been trying to find a recipe that duplicated what we had there and have been unable to do so. Does anybody have an original recipe? It had vegetables, brown rice peanut sauce it was hot and cold. When I say it was several years ago I mean in the 80’s.
Al

 

[Brokenhandle]

We were in Hawaii several years ago and we went to a restaurant. I believe it was an Indonesian restaurant and they had this Gado Gado salad. We have been trying to find a recipe that duplicated what we had there and have been unable to do so. Does anybody have an original recipe? It had vegetables, brown rice peanut sauce it was hot and cold. When I say it was several years ago I mean in the 80’s.
Al

Can't help ya Al but interested in what you hear back. And yes, the 80s were a few years ago!

Ryan

 

[Fueling Around]

I used to give my parents grief about memories from 40 years ago.
The tides are turned and I have those same memories. My kids give me the same grief.

Have you tried the search engine of choice? I found this on a search.

Gado Gado (Indonesian salad with peanut sauce)

This is an Indonesian Gado Gado with a fabulous peanut sauce that is true to the authentic flavours but easier to make. Use any vegetables you want!

www.recipetineats.com

Don't know about Sebring, but I have to travel a long way from Clermont to find an Asian market.
Tempeh is the base according to my search. I'll look at the (Minnesota) local Asian market and see if they carry it. If so, I'll bring a couple packages south this fall. You can pick it up at the gathering at the Hammock.

 

[SmokinAl]

I used to give my parents grief about memories from 40 years ago.
The tides are turned and I have those same memories. My kids give me the same grief.

Have you tried the search engine of choice? I found this on a search.

Gado Gado (Indonesian salad with peanut sauce)

This is an Indonesian Gado Gado with a fabulous peanut sauce that is true to the authentic flavours but easier to make. Use any vegetables you want!

www.recipetineats.com

Don't know about Sebring, but I have to travel a long way from Clermont to find an Asian market.
Tempeh is the base according to my search. I'll look at the (Minnesota) local Asian market and see if they carry it. If so, I'll bring a couple packages south this fall. You can pick it up at the gathering at the Hammock.

I’m pretty sure Publix has Tempeh. We just need to find the right combo of veggies. Thanks for the link John! That salad looks real good. I think the one we had in Hawaii had tofu in it, instead of tempeh.

 

[chef k-dude]

There are a lot of Gado Gado recipes out there. Some use tempeh some use both tempeh and tofu as the protein. Looks to me like the sky's the limit on that one as the flavor profile is driven by the peanut sauce. looks like you can put whatever you want on a plate and dress it with the sauce. Certain vegetables need to be cooked or blanched and in the glimpse I got of Bon Apetit's version looked like deep fried tofu.

Deep fried tofu has an almost chicken texture and can get nicely crispy. I use deep fried tofu strips in my Thai style (more clear sauce than my curry) stir fry along with velveted pork. The pork melts in your mouth and the tofu provides the stiffer chew, but not tough.

I'd have to check my wife's satay sauce recipe to be sure but the peanut sauce in these recipes are in that lane. Lime, soy sauce, heat, etc.

Do you recall what was on the plate? Was it all vegetarian? Definitely going to delve in to this one as I'm looking for summer dishes that dont involve the traditional salad prep piled on a bowl of lettuce. I've been leaning more on cucumber-tomato-onion and Greek style salads to keep it light on the side.

 

[LoydB]

This is one that I typed in from a cookbook that I love.

 

[SmokinAl]

There are a lot of Gado Gado recipes out there. Some use tempeh some use both tempeh and tofu as the protein. Looks to me like the sky's the limit on that one as the flavor profile is driven by the peanut sauce. looks like you can put whatever you want on a plate and dress it with the sauce. Certain vegetables need to be cooked or blanched and in the glimpse I got of Bon Apetit's version looked like deep fried tofu.

Deep fried tofu has an almost chicken texture and can get nicely crispy. I use deep fried tofu strips in my Thai style (more clear sauce than my curry) stir fry along with velveted pork. The pork melts in your mouth and the tofu provides the stiffer chew, but not tough.

I'd have to check my wife's satay sauce recipe to be sure but the peanut sauce in these recipes are in that lane. Lime, soy sauce, heat, etc.

Do you recall what was on the plate? Was it all vegetarian? Definitely going to delve in to this one as I'm looking for summer dishes that dont involve the traditional salad prep piled on a bowl of lettuce. I've been leaning more on cucumber-tomato-onion and Greek style salads to keep it light on the side.

Yes it was all vegetables & brown rice. The veggies were cold & the rice was warm. The peanut sauce made the whole dish.
Al

This is one that I typed in from a cookbook that I love.

View attachment 700355

That looks delicious Loyd!
Al

 

[zwiller]

Cannot help specifically but having decoded a number of old faves IMO it's usually a local twist to a basic recipe. IE: Hawaiian soy (Aloha brand) would be my first suggestion then would suggest finding local stuff typically used in Hawaiian food to use. I'd start here, googled Hawaiian+peanut+sauce. This one passes flying colors to me.
https://cookinghawaiianstyle.com/chunky-peanut-sauce/

 

[SmokinAl]

Cannot help specifically but having decoded a number of old faves IMO it's usually a local twist to a basic recipe. IE: Hawaiian soy (Aloha brand) would be my first suggestion then would suggest finding local stuff typically used in Hawaiian food to use. I'd start here, googled Hawaiian+peanut+sauce. This one passes flying colors to me.
https://cookinghawaiianstyle.com/chunky-peanut-sauce/

That looks like a winner to me too. Sourcing a couple of those ingredients may be a challenge.
Al

 

[zwiller]

Amazon is your friend. Don't do it often but will splurge for stuff I really like. Not sure if you gone down the soy sauce rabbit hole but it's a big deal to get authentic stuff. The reviews are impressive.

https://www.amazon.com/Aloha-Shoyu-Soy-Sauce-Pack/dp/B00F9X725Y?th=1

 

[Fueling Around]

Al, not sure if you and Judy have sugar and salt restrictions.
Wife and I really watch salt and added sugars. We use coconut aminoes as a sub for soy sauce. You might find it the local Walmart Still a good unami enhancer. Add a lite sprinkle of MSG to amp it up.
Don't use the Bragg aminoes. It has twice the salt of regular soy sauce.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

This is one that I typed in from a cookbook that I love.

Man I love that Paprika Recipe Manager!

 

[SmokinAl]

Al, not sure if you and Judy have sugar and salt restrictions.
Wife and I really watch salt and added sugars. We use coconut aminoes as a sub for soy sauce. You might find it the local Walmart Still a good unami enhancer. Add a lite sprinkle of MSG to amp it up.
Don't use the Bragg aminoes. It has twice the salt of regular soy sauce.

We get this low sodium soy sauce online, & watch our salt & sugar intake just for the sake of good health.

Al

 

[chef k-dude]

Doing some research on this this morning and the ingredients and presentations are all over the place. One site says it should always be served hot, most others blanch or otherwise cook the vegetables but serve room temp, except some options like lettuce, tomato and cucumber. The sauce is always supposed to be hot and is the tie that binds all Gada Gada together as one of the national dishes of Indonesia; restaurants, homes and street vendors.

I think I'm going to develop something in this lane and add it to my meals planning list. First is nailing down a great peanut sauce with readily available ingredients. A lot of authentic recipes use tamarind paste. I've already been there-done that and have no desire to work with that again.

We actually loved a store-bought peanut sauce for satay years ago, I think it was this one. I think I will try my hand at homemade from readily available ingredients before going to "the bottle". My wife was in charge of the satay in the past and I grabbed the recipe she used, and it was way too basic, thats why we went to the bottle.

I'm going to combine Thai Chicken Satay with the Indonesian style Gado Gado plate for a meal. Might do some tofu too since I'm familiar with deep frying it.

Al, no memory of exactly what vegetables were on that plate? I'm just curious, I have a whole list of them people use that I'm going to winnow down to my preference.

 

[SmokinAl]

Doing some research on this this morning and the ingredients and presentations are all over the place. One site says it should always be served hot, most others blanch or otherwise cook the vegetables but serve room temp, except some options like lettuce, tomato and cucumber. The sauce is always supposed to be hot and is the tie that binds all Gada Gada together as one of the national dishes of Indonesia; restaurants, homes and street vendors.

I think I'm going to develop something in this lane and add it to my meals planning list. First is nailing down a great peanut sauce with readily available ingredients. A lot of authentic recipes use tamarind paste. I've already been there-done that and have no desire to work with that again.

We actually loved a store-bought peanut sauce for satay years ago, I think it was this one. I think I will try my hand at homemade from readily available ingredients before going to "the bottle". My wife was in charge of the satay in the past and I grabbed the recipe she used, and it was way too basic, thats why we went to the bottle.

I'm going to combine Thai Chicken Satay with the Indonesian style Gado Gado plate for a meal. Might do some tofu too since I'm familiar with deep frying it.

Al, no memory of exactly what vegetables were on that plate? I'm just curious, I have a whole list of them people use that I'm going to winnow down to my preference.

We were trying to figure what was on it, and the main ingredients were brown rice, veggies ( some cold, some steamed, & some blanched. The peanut sauce was cold. We remember bean sprouts, cukes, tofu, maybe green beans. We just have tried many recipes online & none taste like that one. I hope you can come up with one close to that one. Maybe we were so overwhelmed being in Hawaii, and eating at this restaurant that the locals said was the best Indonesian food on the island. It was down at the end of an alley & had about 3 tables inside, all Hawaiians in there, I actually had 2 dinners, both Gado Gado salads. Ate one & ordered another. I was a big eater then!
Al

 

[clifish]

Man I love that Paprika Recipe Manager!

Brian do you have this app? it looks pretty cool.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Brian do you have this app? it looks pretty cool.

Yes. I love it. Just put the link in and click download. Even puts the picture in. Has a lot of great features. I have both the android and PC versions. I mostly use the PC. Its called Paprika Recipe Manager. I could not live without it.

Here is a recipe.



And after click download. There was no picture in post but if there where it would of put it in.

 

[chef k-dude]

Al,

That fits the general description of traditional Gado Gado. It can take me a while to define and try my first run on a recipe, but rest assured when I finally get to this (a lot of notes to sift through and other stuff going on) I will be back here with the results. Something I notice about the recipes I looked at is, I dont recall seasonings on the vegetables, not even salting the water used for cooking/blanching. From my experience and observation, layered seasonings are always best. Finding a balance of getting at least some salt on the vegetables yet the peanut sauce not adding too much salt in addition will be my approach. I know you watch your salt and sugar intake so your mileage may vary

Brian,

Are you using the free version and is there a difference between the free and paid? I read a review that said they loved it, but maxed out the number of recipes the free version allows.

Any idea what how much the paid version is? They never tell you on the app store listings.

Does the PC and phone app sync together?

I like the idea of the pantry and grocery manager. I keep note files on my phone with freezer stock across three freezers and a meals list in a word doc on my PC for planning ahead. It would be great to merge all of that.

Thanks,

Ken

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Are you using the free version and is there a difference between the free and paid? I read a review that said they loved it, but maxed out the number of recipes the free version allows.

I am using the paid version. The free is just to see how you like the app.

Any idea what how much the paid version is? They never tell you on the app store listings.

When I got them the android was $5 and the PC was $20 but looks like its $30 now. They do have sale once in a while. Seems like a lot but I think its worth every penny. The ease of inputting recipes, searching and a big one is scaling the recipe to what ever you want.

Does the PC and phone app sync together?

Yes they do.

There are many people on here that have it and most will say they love it. It does have a bit of a learning curve. Just try the free and see if its for you before buying it.

Here is a overview

 

[LoydB]

We use Paprika not only for recipes, but we track our social calendar on it so I know not to plan dinner... It's a fantastic app, and worth getting the desktop+mobile version.

Here's a couple of weeks: