My intentions of making two familiar recipes for the picnic did not materialise, simply because I couldn’t make up my mind on a cutlery-free savoury dish. I also wanted my dish to be easily portable, but of course, I ended up making Gado-gado, which needed five containers to hold its various dipping tools and condiments.
After some research, I couldn’t be bothered following these recipes to the T as some used peanuts while others had peanut butter. An Indonesian dish with peanut butter as its main ingredient? What? The result of combining both whole peanuts and peanut butter is a thick, rich and creamy sauce that smelled fantastic! If you’re a fan of heat, go with a bit of sambal / crushed chillis, it’ll take the flavour up a notch and reduce the ‘heaviness’ of the coconut milk.
Makes a terrific leftover lunch
The dipping accessories that go with the sauce – sliced carrots and snake beans, steamed, raw cos lettuce, firm tofu lightly pan-fried, thinly sliced tempeh coated in a mixture of potato starch, white pepper and salt, also pan-fried and lontong; shaped rice cubes (I pressed cooked rice that was still slightly wet, into a lined baking tray, covered the top with another sheet of baking paper and rolled with an empty glass bottle. Leave to chill for at least a few hours. Slice into squares to serve)
Gado Gado Sauce
220g roasted peanuts
1 small onion
5 cloves garlic
Knob of ginger, grated
1 heaping tbs peanut butter
1 1/2 cans of coconut milk
1. In a food processor, pulse 200g of peanuts until they are fine (tiny bits are ok).
2. Add onion, garlic and ginger, pulse until well-mixed. Add peanut butter and 1/2 can of coconut milk and pulse a bit more.
3. Simmer mixture and the other can of coconut milk in a pan for 10 minutes , stirring occasionally.
4. Crush the leftover peanuts and sprinkle on top of sauce before serving.
* Haul from the frantic sweets swap at the end of the picnic.