Asinan Jakarta - Crispy salad with peanuts and tamarind sauce

Slice the cabbage. Set aside.
Cut the carrots into julienne/ matchsticks. Set aside.
Slice the lettuce. Set aside.
And cut the cucumber into slices. Set aside
In a big mixing bowl, add cool boiled water. And stir in one teaspoon of salt.
Then put all the vegetables in the bowl, i.e. cabbage, beansprouts, carrots, lettuce, and cucumber. Gently press until all the vegetables are soaked in the water.
Leave the vegetables to soak for at least a few hours.
In the meantime, make the dressing by mixing crushed peanuts, garlic, chili flakes/chili paste, tamarind, brown sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Pour in hot water from the kettle. Stir well and cook at medium heat until it reaches boiling point.
Try and taste the sauce. It should taste salty, sour, sweet, and spicy.
The challenge with making asinan is to get all these four flavours to come together. So you may have to add in a teaspoon of granulated sugar if it’s not sweet enough. Or salt if you can’t taste it. Similarly, you add more tamarind and chilli if needed. Feel free to add more each respectively if you think you need it. Although the measure that I did in this recipe has all the flavours.
Once you’re happy with your dressing sauce, you can start making your asinan.
Using a colander, drain the vegetables, and discard the water.
Arrange the veggies in a serving bowl.
Spoon the sauce over the vegetables, and mix well.
Garnish with noodle crackers/ onion crackers if using.