Gado-gado

Gado-gado (in Indonesian or Betawi language), also known as Lotek (in Sundanese and Javanese) is an Indonesian dish consisting of boiled vegetable salad served with a peanut sauce dressing.It is differed from lotek atah or karedok for its fresh and raw version of the vegetable covered with peanut sauce.

Another similar dish is Javanese pecel. It is thought to have originally been a Sundanese dish. It is widely served from hawkers carts, stalls (warung) as well as in restaurants and hotels both in Indonesia and worldwide.

Gado-gado is part of a wide range of Indonesian dressing and salad combinations, along with lotek, pecel and karedok. In many places, to retain authenticity in both the production and flavor, the peanut sauce is made in individual batches per order, in front of the customers to suit customers' personal preference on the degree of spiciness (the amount of chili pepper).

However, since the dish has gained popularity (because of the increase of Asian-themed restaurants) Gado-gado sauce is now mostly made ahead of time and cooked in bulk, although this is probably more common in Western restaurants rather than in Indonesia. Compared to Western and Indonesian salads, Gado-gado has much more sauce in it. Instead of being used as a light dressing, the vegetables should be well coated in the sauce.

Many stores now offer Gado-Gado dressing in dried blocks to which simply require to add hot water, making it easier and cheaper to cook at home.