Sundanese Raw Vegetable Salad With Spicy Peanut Sauce Recipe (Karedok)

Karedok is popular dish from West Java province, Indonesia. It made of raw vegetable such as cabbage, Thai eggplant, bean sprouts, Chinese long beans, cucumber, lemon basil and "leunca/lenca" (fruit of Solanum nigrum L. plant) and dressed with spicy peanut sauce. The peanut sauce is seasoned with "kencur" (lesser galanggal).

This is exotic raw salad with distinct flavors. It is loaded with good fiber. Here is how to prepare karedok at home. This salad is usually eaten with warm steamed rice or lontong (rice cakes), or often eaten as whole meal. If the usage is shrimp paste is omitted, this salad can be consumed by vegans or people who is in raw food and or vegetarian diets.

serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup Chinese long beans, coarsely chopped

1 cup bean sprouts

1 cup finely shredded cabbage

1 cup thinly sliced cucumber

1/2 cup thinly sliced Thai eggplant

10 - 15 kemangi sprigs (lemon basil), chopped

1 tbsp fried shallot flakes (garnish)

tapioca crackers

Sambal karedok (Spicy peanut sauce):

1 cup roasted peanut

1/3 tsp ground kencur (lesser galangal powder)

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp terasi (shrimp paste)

6 Thai red hot chili

1 garlic

1/2 tsp vinegar

4 oz warm water

• Put roasted peanut, kencur powder, brown sugar, shrimp paste, red hot chili, garlic, vinegar and water in a food processor. Process it into a smooth paste or sauce. Transfer to a bowl.
• In a mixing bowl, combine Chinese long beans, bean sprouts, cabbage, cucumber, Thai eggplant and lemon basil. Stir to mix.
• Pour the spicy peanut sauce over the vegetables and toss it well. Transfer to a salad platter. Garnish with fried shallot flakes. Enjoy it with hot steamed rice and crackers.