← Nouns Cooking · Indonesian & Filipino

Ingredients

• 5 Shallot, peeled
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 4 Red chilli, roughly chopped
• 3 Candlenuts (buah keras), toasted
• 1 tsp Shrimp paste (belacan), toasted (optional)
• 1.5 l Water
• 50 g raw red-skin peanuts
• 3 cm piece Galangal, bruised
• 3 Indonesian bay leaves (daun salam) or bay leaves
• 1 corn on the cob, cut into 6 rounds
• 1 chayote (labu siam) or 1 large courgette, peeled and cut into chunks
• 150 g long beans or green beans, cut into 5 cm lengths
• 200 g Cabbage, cut into chunks
• 2 Tomato, quartered
• 30 g tamarind pulp, soaked in 100 ml hot water and strained
• 40 g Palm sugar
• 2 tsp Salt

Method

1. Pound or blend the shallots, garlic, chillies, candlenuts and shrimp paste (if using) into a paste.
2. Bring the water and peanuts to the boil in a large pot and simmer for 15 min until the peanuts begin to soften.
3. Stir in the spice paste, galangal and bay leaves, add the corn and simmer for 8–10 min.
4. Add the chayote and cook for 5 min, then the beans for 3 min, and finally the cabbage and tomatoes for 2 min, so every vegetable stays bright.
5. Stir in the tamarind liquid, palm sugar and salt. Taste: it should be clearly sour, then sweet, then salty. Adjust and serve hot with rice, fried tempeh and sambal.

Tips

• Many Javanese cooks add shrimp paste for depth; if you do, the soup is no longer vegetarian.
• The soup contains peanuts and candlenuts, so warn anyone with nut allergies.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Daily Cooking Quest What To Cook Today Cook Me Indonesian