COOK INDONESIAN AT HOME

Lara Lee is a chef, food writer and caterer whose food celebrates her Indonesian-Australian heritage. Follow her on @laraleefood

Gado-gado salad with peanut sauce (Gado-gado)

There are many dishes served with peanut sauce in Indonesia, but none is more famous than gado-gado, which translates from Indonesian as ‘mix-mix’. It also comes from the word menggado, which is to eat something without rice, a rarity on these islands. You can substitute the vegetables with whatever you have to hand – the key is a good peanut sauce and plenty of kerupuk or prawn crackers. You can eat this dish on its own, but it also makes a great side dish as part of a larger feast. The peanut sauce lasts for up to five days, but once tossed together, gado-gado is best eaten on the same day.

SERVES 2 as a main or 4 as a side PREP 30 mins COOK 30 mins MORE EFFORT V

60g fried, firm or smoked tofu, cut into bite-sized chunks150g baby new potatoes, halved100g long-stem broccoli100g green beans, trimmed coconut or sunflower60g tempeh, sliced into 1 x 3cm chunks (or replace with more tofu) kecap manis, for grilling (optional)1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks75g ready-to-eat beansprouts1/2 cucumber, sliced into thin rounds16 cherry tomatoes, halved4 eggs, hard-boiled for 10 mins and halved2 tbsp crispy fried shallots (optional)kerupuk (Indonesian crackers) or prawn crackers, to serve (optional)