Gado-gado

Indonesia's great warm salad, and the most generous plate on the list. Blanched vegetables such as long beans, bean sprouts, cabbage and spinach go together with boiled potato, fried tofu, tempeh, hard-boiled egg and, traditionally, lontong rice cakes, all coated in a peanut sauce built from fried ground peanuts, palm sugar, chilli, tamarind and lime, with crunchy kerupuk crackers on the side. It is also the easiest to make vegan: drop the egg and the shrimp paste in the sauce. Allow around forty-five minutes the first time, since several things need boiling or frying, but the sauce keeps well in the fridge and turns any leftover vegetables into dinner later in the week. Pack the sauce separately and it travels fine.