Sayur lodeh


Sayur lodeh is an Indonesian vegetable soup prepared from vegetables in coconut milk popular in Indonesia, but most often associated with Javanese cuisine.

Ingredients

Common ingredients are young unripe jackfruit, eggplant, chayote, melinjo beans and leaves, long beans, green chili pepper, tofu and tempeh, cooked in coconut milk and sometimes enriched with chicken or beef stock. The bumbu spice mixture includes ground chili pepper, shallot, garlic, candlenut, coriander, kencur powder, turmeric powder, dried shrimp paste, salt and sugar. There are two main variants of sayur lodeh soup based on its colour; the white and yellow lodeh. The greenish white sayur lodeh is made without turmeric, while the golden yellow one has turmeric in it. Sometimes green stink beans are added.
The ingredients of sayur lodeh are similar to sayur asem, with the main difference in its liquid portion, sayur lodeh is coconut-milk based while sayur asem is tamarind based. To add aroma and taste, an authentic Javanese sayur lodeh recipe might include ground old tempeh. This old tempeh is known as "yesterday's tempeh" or "rotten tempeh".

Origin

The origin of the dish can be traced to the Javanese people's tradition of Java. According to Javanese Kejawen beliefs, sayur lodeh is an essential part of the slametan ceremony and it is believed as tolak bala, to ward off possible danger and disaster. The people and the Keraton of Yogyakarta often communally cook sayur lodeh for the slametan ceremony. It is believed this can deter disasters such as wind storm, earthquake, volcanic eruption, drought and plague. It is well known in Javanese cuisine and has spread throughout Indonesia and the region. Because of Javanese migration to neighboring countries, today sayur lodeh is also popular in Malaysia and Singapore.

Serving

Sayur lodeh can be served with steamed rice, or with sliced lontong rice cake. Although sayur lodeh basically is a vegetarian dish, it is popularly consumed with ikan asin, opor ayam, empal gepuk or beef serundeng. Sambal terasi is usually served separately.
In Malaysia and Singapore, when sayur lodeh is served with lontong, it is known as lontong. Dried squid sambal, boiled egg and coconut serunding are often added to lontong.