Gado-gado (Indonesian Salad with Peanut Sauce)

Instructions

Fry the prawn paste in a little vegetable oil until it smells fragrant. Set it aside for the sauce.

Fry the peanuts until golden brown, then lift them out and let them cool. Pour off most of the leftover oil, keeping just a little in the pan.

Grind the cooled peanuts to a paste. Add the ground chile, garlic, salt, sugar and fried prawn paste, and grind again until everything is well mixed.

Scrape the paste into a pan and stir in enough water to loosen it. Coconut milk can replace the water for a richer sauce. Add more sugar to taste and bring to the boil.

Simmer the sauce until thick, then season with lime juice or rice vinegar.

Peel the boiled potatoes and deep fry them until golden brown, then slice them. Wash and shred or chop the cabbage, spinach and water spinach.

Boil the cabbage in a pan of water until tender and drain it. Strain and reuse the boiling water to cook the spinach and then the water spinach, draining each. Blanch the bean sprouts for about 30 seconds and drain. Peel, slice and boil the chayote until tender, and slice the cucumber raw.

Arrange the vegetables, sliced potatoes, fried soybean cake, fried tempeh and eggs on a large plate, either at random or in layers. Pour the peanut sauce over the top.

Scatter the deep fried shallots over the salad and serve with kerupuk on the side.