Gado Gado
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup warm water
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lime juice or rice vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 package rice stick (the wide ones)
hot water
1 lb. extra firm tofu, pressed
1 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
sauteed veggies to taste: matchstick carrots, broccoli, spinach, etc.
crushed red peppers to taste
In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together peanut butter and water. Add garlic, lime juice, molasses and soy sauce. Simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, put rice noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Let soak for 20-25 minutes, until tender. Dice tofu into 1/2" cubes, and saute in oil over medium-high heat until browned, sprinkling on ground ginger as it cooks. If using veggies, saute them in a little more oil until cooked through. When everything is ready, assemble noodles, tofu and veggies in a serving bowl. Top with sauce, and stir until combined. Serve hot with red peppers sprinkled on top.
Source of recipe: Adapted from "American Wholefoods" cookbook by Nikki and David Goldberg
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I followed the recipe and I thought it was perfect!
I'm glad you're experimenting! Happy cooking!
Ok, so I made the sauce again to cover the leftovers. I added a bit more water and simmered the sauce for longer (15mins) given ellen00a's advice, and I also substituted brown sugar for molasses. It still tasted strongly of lime. The brown sugar seems to be less sweet than the molasses, so that was an improvement. I added some sriracha, but should've added more (maybe at least a teaspoon or more) as it was barely detectable. Anyway, perhaps it simply needs less lime or I should just use the vinegar next time.
It's a quick and easy recipe with common pantry ingredients. I may make it again, but I wouldn't make it for guests.
Hey a_post_it_note,
If the flavors seem to be separate after cooking, I would suggest adding a little more water to the sauce and cooking it on higher heat for a little longer, making sure to stir it frequently. The fact that you could still taste the lime indicates that it may not have been cooked for long enough--exposing it to the heat should remove most of the citrus taste and render it mostly acidic. That is why you can use either vinegar or lime juice.
As for the spice, I totally encourage you to spice it up! You might want to add crushed red pepper or some minced Thai hot peppers during the cooking process so that the sauce is thoroughly spiced.
Happy cooking!
meh, this recipe was very average. It was not offensive-tasting, but it was just boring and not right. The sauce flavors did not seem to meld well. It makes you very aware that you are eating lime and sugared peanut butter. I might consider re-making this for the purpose of using the rest of my rice noodles in the distant future.
Some changes I would make are:
1) needs about twice the sauce to coat everything adequately (I made 1 head of broccoli for the veggies)
2) would probably be improved with some fire, perhaps some vietnamese rooster sauce would help it.
3) maybe the rice wine would be better than the lime juice??
If you happen to have the exact ingredients on hand, it might be worth trying.
Used red pepper, thinly-sliced carrots, and broccoli this time. My partner said that he would love to drink a big glass of the sauce.
Make this sauce: it is THAT good!
This sauce was so tasty! I forgot the ginger! (darn-it!!) - but it was still tasty as could be!
I added tons of broccoli, carrots, red bell, a bit of onion and some swiss chard.
Thank you so much, it was a hit with my husband too! ;)
This sauce was amazing. The lime and the ginger really do the trick. I make it all the time to pour over veggies. I've even used it as a salad dressing!
As for Gado Gado, I left out the rice noodles because I am not a big noodle fan (I did top the dish with crunchy noodles, however) and I used a ton of broccoli for my veggies.