← Nouns Cooking · Indonesian & Filipino

Ingredients

• 5 Shallot, peeled
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 3 Candlenuts (buah keras)
• 2 Red chilli, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp Ground coriander
• ½ tsp Ground turmeric
• 1 tsp terasi (shrimp paste) (optional)
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 2 cm piece Galangal, sliced and bruised
• 1 Lemongrass, bruised
• 2 daun salam (Indonesian bay leaves) or bay leaves
• 600 ml water or vegetable stock
• 1 Carrot, sliced
• 150 g long beans or green beans, cut into 4 cm lengths
• 1 long aubergine, cut into chunks
• 150 g Tempeh, cut into cubes
• 200 g firm tofu or tofu puffs, cut into cubes
• 200 g Cabbage, roughly chopped
• 400 ml Coconut milk
• 1 tsp palm sugar or sugar
• 1 tsp Salt

Method

1. Blend the spice paste ingredients with a splash of water until smooth.
2. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and fry the paste for 3–4 min, stirring, until fragrant and no longer raw-smelling. Add the galangal, lemongrass and bay leaves and stir for 1 minute.
3. Pour in the water or stock and bring to the boil. Add the carrot and beans and simmer for 5 min.
4. Add the aubergine, tempeh and tofu and simmer for 5 min until the aubergine is soft.
5. Stir in the cabbage, coconut milk, sugar and salt and simmer gently for 4–5 min, stirring now and then, until the cabbage is just tender. Do not let it boil hard, or the coconut milk may split.
6. Taste and adjust the salt, then serve with rice or lontong (compressed rice cakes) and sambal on the side.

Tips

• Chayote, young jackfruit, corn on the cob or melinjo leaves are all traditional additions; use what is in season.
• The optional terasi adds depth but makes it neither vegan nor vegetarian, and is unsafe for shellfish allergies.

Sources

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

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