Gado-gado, the spice of my life, my sole source of peanut butter in Indonesia, and one of the things that I will miss the most when I fly away from Java tomorrow afternoon. Maybe I'll have time for one more helping... probably not. Good thing I made Suroto's mom sit down with me and teach me how to make it when I was visiting his family in the kampung.
Made differently at every place, by every person, its flavor changes by region, and the name even changes as you move through the country and different ethnicities (or even neighborhood in Jakarta). Lotek in Jogyakarta, rojek for some.
Manis-pedas, sweet and spicy, is something that is not fully appreciated in Minnesota - hopefully someday we shall see the light, there in the Midwest. Perhaps I will open the restaurant that I have always dreamed of: "Nasi Gila."