Gado-Gado

Boil 4 Eggs for 9 min, then shock them in cold water and peel. Halve them when cold. Heat 400 ml Neutral oil in a wok to 170 °C. Fry Firm tofu in batches until the cubes float and turn pale gold, then drain on a rack. Fry Tempeh until crisp-edged and deep amber. Both should rattle when you shake the rack.

⚠ Tip: Salt the oil, not the tofu: wet tofu explodes in hot oil, so pat everything bone dry first.

Wrap Terasi in foil and toast it over a flame or in a dry pan for 1 min, until it smells dark and sweet rather than raw. Crush Candlenuts coarsely.

Blend Roasted peanuts, the toasted terasi, Garlic, Shallots, Red chillies, Galangal and Makrut lime leaves to a coarse paste. You want texture: some peanut grit is the point, so stop while it still looks sandy.

Put the paste in a pan over medium heat. Fry it for 3 min until it darkens and smells roasted, then add 200 ml Light coconut milk, 400 ml Water, Palm sugar, Tamarind paste, Kecap manis and a good pinch of Salt. Simmer gently for 10 min, stirring, until the sauce thickens and a slick of oil beads on the surface. It should be thick, sweet-sour-salty and taste of peanut first.

⚠ Tip: If the sauce splits, add a splash of warm water and whisk. If it tastes flat, it needs salt or tamarind, not sugar.

Bring a big pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Blanch White cabbage for 1 min, Snake beans for 2 min 30 sec, Bean sprouts for 20 sec and Choy sum for 1 min, lifting each out straight into ice water. Cook Waxy potatoes in the same water until a knife slides in easily, about 15 min. Drain everything bone dry: wet vegetables water down the sauce.

⚠ Tip: Keep the cucumber raw. You want one loud crunch in the bowl.

Bring the frying oil back to 190 °C. Drop Prawn crackers in one at a time: they puff almost instantly, so pull them out after a couple of seconds and drain.

⚠ Tip: Crackers go from pale to bitter in a heartbeat. Fry one as a test before committing the whole pack.

On a wide platter or four plates, layer the drained cabbage, long beans, sprouts, kai-lan and potato. Arrange the fried tofu and tempeh on top, tuck in the egg halves and the raw cucumber batons.

Spoon the warm peanut sauce generously over everything, letting it pool in the folds of the vegetables. Shower with Crispy fried shallots if you have them and plant the crackers in the salad at the very last second, so they still crackle. Serve any extra sauce on the side.

⚠ Tip: Gado-gado waits for no one: dressed salad sits and goes limp. Sauce on the table, crackers in, eat.