Southeast Asia's Best Salads According to Taste Atlas 2023: Indonesian Cuisine Takes the Crown!

Based on data from the Croatian culinary guide website, Taste Atlas, Indonesian cuisine dominated the list of the best salads in Southeast Asia in 2023.

Five out of the top ten best salads in Southeast Asia were Indonesian dishes. Gado-gado and ketoprak ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, with a score of 4.1 out of 5.

Gado-gado is a traditional Indonesian salad, usually consisting of various blanched vegetables, egg, tempeh, and tofu. It is served with peanut sauce and prawn crackers.

"This dish is a true representation of Indonesian street food, and has been present in Indonesian culture since the 16th century," wrote Taste Atlas in its report on Wednesday, December 29, 2023.

Ketoprak is made from a combination of fried tofu, lontong (rice cake), vermicelli, bean sprouts, cabbage, and cucumber. Like gado-gado, it is served with peanut sauce, plus sweet soy sauce, fried shallots, and crackers.

Other Indonesian dishes on the list were karedok, asinan, and rujak cingur. All three received the same score of 4 points.

Som tam, a Thai vegetable salad, took first place with a score of 4.3 points, tied with larb—a Lao meat salad—which achieved the same score.

Here is the complete list of the top 10 best salads in Southeast Asia as of November 29, 2023, according to Taste Atlas:

1. Som tam (Thailand): 4.3 points
2. Larb (Laos): 4.3 points
3. Yum woon sen (Thailand): 4.2 points
4. Bok i'hong (Cambodia): 4.2 points
5. Gado-gado (Indonesia): 4.1 points
6. Ketoprak (Indonesia): 4.1 points
7. Som tam khai khem (Thailand): 4.1 points
8. Karedok (Indonesia): 4 points
9. Asinan (Indonesia): 4 points
10. Rujak cingur (Indonesia): 4 points

Furthermore, other Indonesian dishes also made the list of the best salads in Southeast Asia: urap (15th place) and lalap (16th place), both scoring 3.9 points, followed by selat solo (18th place) with 3.5 points.

(See also: The Best Street Food in Southeast Asia: Indonesian Cuisine Dominates)