Gado Gado

This Indonesian dish is strangely like comfort food for me. It's a combination of raw and cooked vegetables and tofu with a spicy coconut peanut sauce, garnished with bean sprouts and boiled eggs. Sounds strange enough, but if you like tofu, fresh vegetables, and peanut butter as much as I do, you'll understand why this is both extremely nutritional and really satisfies a craving.

It may sound weird to cover vegetables of varying consistency with a peanut butter based sauce, but trust me, when it all comes together you'll understand.

5 small-medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, peeled and julliened
1 red bell pepper, julliened
100 grams string beans
1 block fresh firm tofu, cubed
2 boiled eggs
a handful of mung bean sprouts
other optional vegetables include fresh spinach, strips of cucumber, cauliflower florets, and shredded cabbage
Peanut sauce (recipe follows)

1. Boil the potatoes, green beans and carrots separately. The carrots and green beans may be boiled a bit aldente.
2. In a non-stick skillet, dry cook the tofu cubes on low heat, flipping often, to extract as much of the water moisture as possible. This takes about 10 minutes and can be done while boiling the other vegetables.
3. Toss all the vegetables, potatoes and tofu together in a large bowl.
4. Quarter the boiled eggs.
5. Serve the gado gado with peanut sauce and boiled eggs on the side.

Peanut Sauce
1 tbs peanut oil
1 onion, diced finely
1/2 cup peanut butter (unsweetened)
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs sugar
2/3 cup coconut milk
2 tbs ground coriander
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tsp chilli paste

1. Fry the onion in the oil until golden brown.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk until smooth, tasting and adjusting to your preference. I like to add a little extra chilli paste for some heat and soy sauce for a bit of salt to balance the other sugars.