nicoise salad gone indonesian

stefan recently came home from one of his work trips (there have been many lately!) inspired to replicate one of the meals he had in waterloo, ontario. i know, i thought the same thing... inspired by a restaurant in waterloo?!?  well, it was so. very. delicious.  here he is to explain himself.  i suggest you give him your full attention, you'll want to prepare this dish yourself...  have a lovely weekend!

indonesia used to be a dutch colony, as a result there is quite a bit of indonesian cultural influence in holland, especially in the culinary world.

as a kid i remember going to indonesian fairs eating sate skewers, lumpia (spring rolls) and pisang goreng (battered deep-fried bananas) as a dessert treat.  my parents had indonesian friends and visiting them always meant delicious food like nasi goring and bahmi goring (thick noodles with vegetables). every shopping center has a toko, a little indonesian food shop where we would buy ingredients such as sambal (a thick sauce made from chilies, shrimp paste and other spices), a little jar of this is always found on the table when indonesian food is involved. my dad and i used to one-up each other in adding spice to our dishes until they were spicy enough to make our mouths burn and brows sweat.
 

peanut sauce is another indonesian favorite and the gado gado, a dish of mixed vegetable salad with peanut sauce, is simple and delicious. when i was in waterloo, for work, i found a very nice little indonesian restaurant called bima's wharung.  i ate there twice since it brought back great memories of authentic indonesian food. one of the dishes i had was their version of gado gado, and while eating it i realized how much connie would like it so i made a note to reproduce it back home.
 

the dish is really something you put together based on what vegetables you have available. the peanut sauce is what brings it all together and the fried shallots are a must-have condiment; their sweet crunch provides the perfect balance to the creamy peanut sauce. this dish can be liberally seasoned with sambal.  both, the deep fried shallots and sambal, can be found in asian specialty stores or if you're lucky and there is a dutch store around then they will most certainly sell them as well!

 

 

indonesian nicoise

vegetables you will need (this fed the three of us):

2 hard-boiled eggs, cut into quarters

a bunch of green beans, blanched (dunk in salted boiling water for 4 minutes then dropped in ice water, they will stay crunchy and bright green)

1/2 pound of small new potatoes, halved and boiled until soft but still firm
cherry tomatoes, halved
chunks of fresh (or canned) pineapple
shredded cabbage, blanched as well
roasted peanuts, for garnish
deep fried shallots, for garnish
sambal

 

peanut sauce ingredients you will need:

there are as many peanut sauce recipes as there are cooks, mine is from a dutch site called indochef which is a great source of indonesian recipes:

1 small onion

3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons dark soya sauce
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 stalk lemon grass (give it a good crush with the flat of your chefs knife)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon sambal ulek
1 can coconut milk

what to do:

finely dice the onion. put the oil in a small saucepan and soften the onion, add all other ingredients except coconut milk. slowly heat on low flame adding coconut milk as required to make it into a smooth sauce. remove the lemongrass.

now put all the veggies in a big bowl, dress with peanut sauce and serve.

garnish with roasted peanuts and fried shallots at the table. enjoy!