Name: Vegetable and coconut soup (Sayur lodeh)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 60 ml vegetable oil (¼ cup); 1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, crushed; 30 gm dried prawns, soaked in water for 5 minutes, rinsed; 10 gm galangal (2cm piece); 4 kaffir lime leaves; 200 gm cabbage, cut into bite-sized pieces; 1 carrot, cut into 5cm batons; 1 small eggplant (about 220gm), cut into bite-sized pieces; 500 ml coconut milk (2 cups); 200 gm cauliflower, broken into florets; 150 gm green beans or snake beans, cut into 5cm lengths; To taste: caster sugar; To serve: steamed rice; Spice paste; 5 golden shallots, thinly sliced; 5 candlenuts; 1 long red chilli, finely chopped; 2 tsp shrimp paste, roasted (see note); 1 tsp ground coriander; ½ tsp turmeric powder

Vegetable and coconut soup (Sayur lodeh)

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for Vegetable and coconut soup (Sayur lodeh)

Serves 8

Prep

30M

Cook

20M

Total

50M

Ingredients

60 ml vegetable oil (¼ cup)

1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, crushed

30 gm dried prawns, soaked in water for 5 minutes, rinsed

10 gm galangal (2cm piece)

4 kaffir lime leaves

200 gm cabbage, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 carrot, cut into 5cm batons

1 small eggplant (about 220gm), cut into bite-sized pieces

500 ml coconut milk (2 cups)

200 gm cauliflower, broken into florets

150 gm green beans or snake beans, cut into 5cm lengths

To taste: caster sugar

To serve: steamed rice

Spice paste

5 golden shallots, thinly sliced

5 candlenuts

1 long red chilli, finely chopped

2 tsp shrimp paste, roasted (see note)

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp turmeric powder

Method

Main

1.For spice paste, blend ingredients in a food processor, adding a little water if required, until smooth.

2. Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add spice paste and stir-fry until fragrant (3-5 minutes). Add lemongrass, prawns, galangal and lime leaves and stir-fry to combine (1-2 minutes), then add cabbage, carrot and eggplant and cook until tender (3 minutes). Add coconut milk and 500ml water and bring to the boil, stirring frequently to prevent coconut milk splitting. Add beans and season to taste with salt and sugar. Simmer until vegetables are just soft (2-4 minutes). Serve with steamed rice.

Note Candlenuts are available from Asian grocers. Shrimp paste, known as terasi in Indonesia, is available from Asian grocers. It requires roasting before use: preheat oven to 200C, wrap shrimp paste in foil and roast until fragrant (5 minutes).
This recipe is from the June 2011 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.
Notes