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Loading...A beloved Jakarta-style salad of tender blanched vegetables, fried tofu, tempeh, lontong rice cakes, and halved eggs, all drenched in a sweet-savory peanut sauce spiked with chilies and palm sugar. The capital's version leans sweeter and richer than other regional takes, balancing kecap manis and tamarind for a glossy, nutty dressing. It is served at room temperature with crispy prawn crackers on the side.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Total Time40 mins
Servings4
Yield4 servings
Nutrition Facts
Per serving (estimated)
- 620 kcalCalories
- 32 gFat
- 6 gSaturated Fat
- 55 gCarbs
- 8 gFiber
- 18 gSugar
- 28 gProtein
- 720 mgSodium
- 850 mgPotassium
- 180 mgCalcium
- 5 mgIron
- 25 mgVitamin C
- 200 mcgVitamin A
Ingredients
For the Jakarta peanut sauce
- 200 g roasted unsalted peanuts, ground
- 60 g palm sugar, grated (or dark brown sugar)
- 2 tbsp tamarind paste (asam jawa)
- 3 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
- 3 red cayenne chilies, seeded and sliced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 small shallot
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 250 ml warm water
For the vegetables and proteins
- 200 g napa cabbage, shredded
- 120 g mung bean sprouts, rinsed
- 150 g long beans, cut into 4 cm pieces
- 150 g spinach leaves, trimmed
- 1 cucumber, sliced into half moons
- 200 g cooked lontong or firm rice cake, cubed
- 4 large eggs
- 200 g firm tofu, fried and cubed
- 150 g tempeh, steamed and sliced
For garnish and serving
- 40 g crispy fried shallots
- 80 g prawn crackers (krupuk)
- 2 limes, cut into wedges
- Extra kecap manis, for drizzling
Directions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Hard-boil the eggs for 9 minutes, then chill in ice water, peel, and halve lengthwise. Reserve the boiling water for blanching.
- Blanch the cabbage for 1 minute, the long beans for 3 minutes, and the spinach for 30 seconds, refreshing each in cold water and draining well. Arrange the bean sprouts, blanched vegetables, and cucumber slices in a wide serving bowl.
- Toast the ground peanuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until fragrant and lightly golden, stirring constantly so they do not burn.
- In a blender or mortar, combine the toasted peanuts, palm sugar, tamarind paste, kecap manis, chilies, garlic, shallot, salt, and warm water. Blend or pound to a thick, pourable sauce; loosen with extra warm water if needed. Taste and adjust with more palm sugar for sweetness or chilies for heat.
- Toss the fried tofu and sliced tempeh gently into the salad. Spoon the warm peanut sauce generously over the vegetables and proteins, drizzling extra kecap manis around the edges.
- Top with the halved eggs, scatter fried shallots liberally over the surface, and serve immediately with prawn crackers and lime wedges on the side for squeezing over each portion.
Cook’s Notes
- If raw peanuts are unavailable, swap in 180 g of natural unsweetened peanut butter and skip the toasting step, thinning the sauce with a little warm water.
- For a richer Jakarta flavor, add 1 tbsp of shrimp paste (terasi) bloomed in 1 tsp hot oil to the peanut sauce before blending.
- Lontong can be replaced with a thick slice of day-old jasmine rice pressed into a small bowl and chilled until firm, then cubed.
- Toast the prawn crackers briefly in hot oil just before serving so they puff up crisp and stay that way at the table.
