Gado Gado (Tofu and Vegetable Salad with Peanuts Dressing)

Ingredients:

1 cup (50 g) bean sprouts, seed coats and tails discarded

2 cup (180 g) spinach, rinsed, though stems discarded

1 carrot, sliced

1 cup (100 g) green beans, cut into short lengths

¼ head cabbage, leaves separated  and slice

1 cup (100 g) greens beans, cut into short length

¼ head cabbage, leaves separeated and sliced

2 cakes (about 7 oz/200g each) deep-fried tofu, sliced

2 hard-boiled eggs, cut into wedges

2 tablespoons Crispy Fried Shallots , to garnish

Krupuk Shrimp Crackers to serve (optional)

Gado-gado dressing:

1 cup (150 g) roasted unsalted peanuts

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 to 3 bird’s-eye chilies or red finger length chilies, deseeded

1 in (2 ½  cm) freh kencur root, peeled  and sliced

1 kaffir lime leaf

3 tablespoons sweet Indonesian soy sauce (Kecap Manis)

½ teaspoon salt

2 cup (500 ml) water

1 teaspoon freshly squeeszed lime or lemon juice

Cooking Direction:

1. Prepare the Crispy Fried Shallots by following the recipe on categories pages: pickles sambal and dipping sauce
2. To make the gado-gado dressing, coarsely grind the peanuts, garlic, chilies and kencur in a mortar or blender , adding  a little water  if necessary to keep the mixture turning. Place the ground mixture in a saucepan with all the other dressing ingredients, except the lime or lemon juice, and simmer uncovered over  very low heat for about 1 hour. Stirring frequently to prevent the sauce from sticking to thr pot and burning. Remove from the heat  and set  aside. Add the lime or lemon juice, mix well and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the Crispy Fried Shallots over the sauce just before serving.
3. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil over medium heat, and briefly blanch the vegetables (about 30 second for bean sprouts, 1 minute for spinach, 1 to 2 minutes for carrot, and 2 to 3 minutes  for  green beans and cabbage) remove from the heat  and Drain.
4. Arrange all the vegetables on a serving platter and top with the tofu  and wedges . garnish with the remaining Crispy Fried Shallots and drizzle the Gado-gado Dressing on top. Serve with the deep fried  krupuk  on the side

source: Authentic Recipes from Indonesian, Heinz von Holzen and Lother Arsana