Antara Darah dan Hati: Dream Reality English Translation

Chapter 8 Part 6 "Het maken van Gado-Gado"

*Play the song above for the theme of this part

POV Lodewijk

The time showed it's 11:00 p.m. Liesbeth's father allowed me to learn how to make Gado-Gado on condition that he oversees our activities.

I went out of my apartment room, went to the parking lot, mounted my bike and pedaled it to the restaurant. When I arrived, I shout my greetings and asked permission to open the door so I could enter.

The door was opened, I went inside and then was greeted by mr. Anton Achmad Jansen.

"Assalamualaikum, excuse me mr. Anton, sorry to bother you this late."

"Waalaikumussalaam, it's okay. Liesbeth told me about your problem with your twin. Your case is often talked on TV and social media so I know about it too. It must be painful to fight against your brother."

"Yes."

"Alright come in, please go to the kitchen. Liesbeth is waiting, I'll watch from the guest table near the keuken (kitchen)."

"Dank je (thank you)." I walked into the kitchen, Liesbeth was waiting by wearing her apron and her waitress clothes, the ingredients also seemed to have been prepared and arranged on the table.

"Assalamuaalikum Liesbeth."

"Waalaikumussalaam brother Lodewijk."

"Sorry to disturb you and bother your father."

"It's okay brother, so before we start, you have to wear your apron first."

"Yes." I took the apron that was hanging from the and release it from the hanger and put it on.

"Are you ready brother?"

"Ready."

"Okay, so first the vegetables needs to be washed and then the carrots and the potatoes needs to be peeled." I followed her instructions, put all the ingredients in the basin and then washed it in the kitchen sink and then peeled the skin off from the potatoes and carrots.

"After that the cabbage, long beans, carrots, curly lettuce and corn needs to be boiled first and we need to put the bean sprouts in hot water, but do not let the bean sprouts to wither too much, also you need to leave the potatoes that are being boiled a little longer until they can be stabbed easily with the tip of a knife. While waiting for the potatoes, let's boil the eggs and we need to fry the tempeh and yellow tofu too." I followed her instructions and waited while sometimes asking whether the vegetables were enough withered or not.

"Is this enough?"

"Almost, just try checking the potatoes. Can the knife's edge get through or not?" Liesbeth replied, I took the vegetables out of the pan except for potatoes and eggs, I took a knife and stabbed it.

"Still not soft enough, wait for 10 to 15 more minutes. While waiting, let's make the seasoning first."

"So what should I do?"

"First, 4 cloves of garlic are thinly cut and then cut the Galangal around the same size of a pinky finger and then the garlic that has been cut is fried briefly alongside 200 grams of peanuts and let them rest for a whil, also you need to boil 8 curly chili fruit." I followerd her instructions until finished

"Okay, what should I do next?"

"This is Javanese tamarind powder, just take 1 tea tablespoon and then dissolve it using 3 tablespoons of warm water, don't forget to filter it. After that, we need to mash the fried peanuts by using a pestle and a kitchen mortar or if you want the modern version just grind it in a blender or food processor, you can choose between those methods, it's up to you."