Sayur Asem (Tamarind Vegetable Soup)

Name: Sayur Asem (Tamarind Vegetable Soup)
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Sundanese
Ingredients: 1.5 L Water; 3 tbsp Tamarind paste; 2 cobs Sweet corn, cut into 3 cm rounds; 150 g Long beans, in 4 cm lengths; 1 Chayote, peeled and cubed; 60 g Raw peanuts, skin on; 50 g Melinjo leaves and fruit (if available); 5 Shallots, sliced; 3 Garlic cloves, sliced; 3 Red chillies, sliced; 3 cm Galangal, bruised; 2 Bay leaves (daun salam); 1 tsp Shrimp paste (terasi), toasted; 1 tbsp Palm sugar; 1.5 tsp Salt

The Sundanese sour soup — corn, long beans, chayote, peanuts and melinjo in a thin, sharp tamarind broth. It exists to be eaten beside something fried or grilled and a spoon of sambal terasi, which is why the soup itself is kept light and sour rather than rich.

Fuente

Receta de Sundanese home kitchens · 🏺 Tradicional · Sundanese (West Java) household cooking

West Java · the sour soup beside the fried — An ownerless everyday dish, so no cook is credited. The cited article confirms sayur asem as a Sundanese vegetable soup in tamarind broth, sweet-sour and refreshing, eaten with fried or grilled dishes, lalapan, rice and sambal terasi, and part of the daily Betawi diet. The vegetable order, the sour-first seasoning rule, timings and quantities are this book's own.

Contexto en Wikipedia ↗

Mira cómo se prepara · 3 vídeos

Diandra Cappelut Alma Yusuf Kitchen Tutorial Ngliwet

⏱ 40 min🍽 4 porciones🔥 160 kcal🇮🇩 Indonesia🌶️

HalalSin lácteosSin gluten

Pasos

Bring the water to a boil with the shallots, garlic, chillies, galangal, bay leaves and terasi. Simmer 5 minutes.
Add the peanuts and corn and cook 10 minutes — they take longest.
Add the chayote and long beans and cook 6 minutes.
Stir in the tamarind, palm sugar and salt. Taste — it should make you sit up: clearly sour, then a little sweet, then salt. Adjust.
💡 Sour first. If it tastes balanced and mild, add more tamarind — this soup is the acid on the plate, and the fried chicken next to it is the fat.
Add the melinjo leaves for the last 2 minutes. Serve hot beside ayam goreng or ikan goreng, rice and sambal terasi.

💡 Consejos

It is better the next day, and it is one of the few Indonesian soups eaten at room temperature in a hot kitchen.
Sayur asem Jakarta is browner, with more terasi; the Sundanese original is clearer. Both are right.