Sayur lodeh is a popular Indonesian vegetable soup prepared from cooked in coconut milk,
Ingredients
Common ingredients are young unripe
jackfruit,
eggplant,
chayote,
melinjo beans and leaves,
, green
chili pepper,
tofu and
tempeh, cooked in coconut milk and sometimes enriched with
chicken stock or
beef stock. The
bumbu spice mixture includes ground chili pepper (optional, depending on the desired degree of spiciness),
shallot,
garlic,
candlenut,
coriander,
kencur powder,
turmeric powder (optional), 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
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. In order 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 culture 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 (court) 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 (separated or mixed in one plate), or with sliced rice cake, called
lontong . This is typical for Singapore and Malaysia (
nasi himpit). Dried squid sambal, boiled egg and coconut
serunding are often added to
lontong.
Although sayur lodeh is basically a vegetarian dish, it is popularly consumed with ikan asin (salted fish), opor ayam, empal gepuk or beef serundeng. Sambal ("shrimp paste chili sauce") is usually served separately.
See also
-
Sayur asem, similar ingredients, but tamarind-based soup
-
Coconut soup
-
List of Indonesian soups
-
List of vegetable soups
External links
