🇮🇩 Indonesia · Java (Betawi and Sundanese kitchens); regional forms across Indonesia
Sayur asemIndonesian tamarind vegetable soup
A sour Indonesian vegetable soup in a tamarind-soured broth with corn, chayote, long beans, peanuts, melinjo leaves and seeds and young jackfruit, red and slightly thick in the Betawi and Sundanese form, clearer in Central and East Java.
Origin and history
Sayur asem is eaten across Java and beyond in many regional forms. Indonesian food media place its first appearance in Sunda (West Java) or in colonial Batavia, where tamarind trees grew well; neither claim is firmly documented. The Betawi version has a thicker, redder broth than the plain ones, thanks to candlenut, shrimp paste and red chilies.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Total time
- 45 min
- Hands-on
- 25 min
Ingredients
- 2 liters2 quarts water
- 150 g5 oz beef trimmings (tetelan), cut small; optional, as in some Betawi homes
- 6 shallots (bawang merah), for the paste
- 4 cloves garlic, for the paste
- 5 candlenuts (kemiri), for the paste; macadamias work
- 2 large curly red chilies, for the paste
- 5 bird's eye chilies (cabai rawit), for the paste; fewer for a milder soup
- 1 1/2 tsp shrimp paste (terasi), toasted in a dry pan first
- 2 cm3/4 inch galangal (lengkuas), bruised
- 2 Indonesian bay leaves (daun salam)
- 20 g3/4 oz tamarind pulp (asam jawa), dissolved in 4 tbsp hot water and strained
- 1 sweet corn, cut into 3 to 4 cm rounds
- 50 g1/3 cup peanuts, boiled and lightly crushed
- 50 g1/2 cup melinjo seeds (buah melinjo), optional if you cannot find them
- 150 g5 oz young jackfruit (nangka muda), cut in chunks; canned in water is fine, drained
- 50 g2 oz young green papaya, cut in chunks
- 100 g3 1/2 oz chayote (labu siam), peeled, cut in cubes
- 5 long beans (kacang panjang), cut in 3 cm pieces
- 20 g2/3 oz melinjo leaves (daun melinjo), or a handful of chayote shoots or spinach
- salt and sugar, to taste
Method
-
1. Pound or blend the shallots, garlic, candlenuts, both kinds of chili and the toasted shrimp paste into a coarse paste.
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2. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. If you are using the beef trimmings, add them now and boil for about 15 minutes, until nearly tender.
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3. Add the bay leaves, galangal and the spice paste, and stir. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the broth smells fragrant and turns red.
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4. Add the corn, peanuts, melinjo seeds and young jackfruit and simmer for 5 minutes, until the corn is half cooked.
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5. Add the young papaya and chayote and cook for another 5 minutes, until a piece breaks easily when pressed against the pot.
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6. Stir in the tamarind liquid, a pinch of salt and a little sugar. Taste: the broth should be clearly sour, with a gentle sweetness and heat behind it.
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7. Add the long beans and melinjo leaves last and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the leaves wilt but the beans still have a little snap.
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8. Serve hot with warm rice, crackers (kerupuk) and sambal on the side.
Notes
- This recipe follows the Betawi (Jakarta) form: red from chilies, shrimp paste and candlenut, and slightly thicker than the clear versions. Sources differ on small details; one Betawi recipe uses beef trimmings and young jackfruit and papaya, another leaves out the meat, and a third adds young jackfruit but no papaya.
- A clearer version leaves out the candlenuts and most of the paste: shallot, chili, shrimp paste, galangal and bay leaf are simply sliced or lightly pounded into the water. Java's version is simpler still, with garlic and shallot only, galangal, bay leaf and a few vegetables.
- Cook the hard vegetables first and the tender ones (long beans, leaves) at the very end, as every recipe consulted does; overcooked leaves turn dull and bitter.
- Melinjo leaves and seeds are the signature vegetables. Outside Indonesia, use chayote shoots or spinach for the leaves, and omit the seeds; the soup is still recognisable.
- Tamarind strength varies: add the liquid in two goes and taste. Young jackfruit canned in brine should be rinsed well.
- It is a home soup that is usually eaten with rice and something fried, and it is better on the second day when reheated gently.
Adapted from Orami Magazine, Resep Sayur Asem (Betawi and Sunda versions) and Telkomsel Jelajah, Resep Sayur Asem Khas Berbagai Daerah Nusantara.
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