Sayur Lodeh is a vegetable dish originating from Indonesia. Chef Ismail gave it a Thai twist, using tom yum cubes and spices. It is best to blend your own fresh ingredients to make the paste for the sauce, but if you are really stuck for time, you can also substitute with 2-3 tbsp of instant tom yum paste. The rich, creamy sauce with the spiciness from the tom yum really hit the spot for me.
For this dish, usually cabbage and long beans are used, along with optional ingredients such as tempeh, deep fried tofu, or beancurd skin (fu chuk). I made this at home using fu chuk (since my mum loves them) as well as some king prawns since I got some fresh ones from the market that morning. Strictly speaking, this is a vegetarian dish but since I'm serving it at home, I get to put in what I like :D
If you love tom yum, you will most definitely like this. We all enjoyed it very much, even Baby C had a few sips of the sauce. I would happily eat this dish alone with a bowl of white rice (drenched in the tom yum sauce!). Btw, my lodeh siam sauce wasn't as thick as Chef Ismail's (but still yummy!), I think it's due to the coconut milk used.. next time I'll have to use fresh coconut milk.
Lodeh Siam
Recipe adapted from Chef Ismail (with several additions)
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 6
100g QBB Ghee (I substituted with 3 tbsp of cooking oil)
800ml - 1l water
200ml coconut milk
1 tsp anchovies powder (optional)
Salt, to taste
Sugar, to taste
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 cabbage, coarsely sliced, blanched
350g long bean, cut into 2 inch long, blanched
100g beancurd skin (fu chuk) (optional)
10-12 prawns, shelled and deveined with head intact (optional)
Blended ingredients
15 Red cili padi
5 cloves shallot
4 cloves garlic
1 sprig Thai basil
2 sprig coriander
2 stalks lemongrass, sliced
3cm turmeric, sliced
3cm lengkuas, sliced
3cm old ginger, sliced
2 tsp dried chilli paste (cili giling)
50ml water
1. Blend the ingredients to a paste. Heat the oil/ghee in a large wok, and add the blended ingredients and saute until fragrant.
2. Add water, and bring to the boil. Add in coconut milk and stir continuously until thicken.
3. Add in tom yum cube, anchovies powder, and season with salt and sugar.
4. Stir and boil for 15 minutes, then add in the lime juice.
5. Add in blanched vegetables and beancurd and stir well. Finally, add in the prawns and cook for 1 minute or until the prawns change to a orange hue. Serve immediately.
*Recipe courtesy of Chef Ismail of Restoran Rebung with slight amendments. You can read more about the cooking demo by Chef Dato' Ismail that I attended here.
*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's Facebook page on 16 August 2012.
Sour masak lemak? Sounds like the tom yam with santan that I had when I was in KL...
ReplyDeleteDo you prefer tom yum with or without santan?
DeleteI'm not a big fan of Tom Yum, I found this to be a very appetizing dish - more yum than Tom yum !!
ReplyDeleteHehe thanks and glad u liked it! ;)
Deletesounds like a appetizing dish with the sour flavours of tom yum coming into play. should be pretty much a healthier alternative for tom yum with the amount of greens in there :)
ReplyDeleteThis usually serves 6-8 ppl but we managed to finish it all, including gravy cos it was so good.
DeleteThis sounds really really good! I love fu chuk very much. I wonder if I can possibly find all the ingredients like turmeric and lent kuas fresh in Singapore? Need to go to the wet market to hunt around. I have always wanted to make a curry from scratch but don't know how to go about getting the stuff! Need to go figure this out. - Mich
ReplyDeleteOh good luck in hunting them down, we're lucky that we can find it easily in KL.
Deletecan I replace the santan with milk a? I loveeee lodeh but my stomach is rather sensitive to santan.. =(
ReplyDeleteI think so, cos sometimes I make curry using milk and not santan. However, I think you may need to reduce the water slightly (maybe -200ml), and after u add the milk, you have to lightly simmer so that the milk doesn't curdle or anything like tht.
DeleteWould love to eat with some nasi impit =)
ReplyDeleteHehe that would be nice too!
DeleteCan't go wrong with fu chuk and spicy broth! =)
ReplyDeleteLooks so many fans of fu chuk! I dont usually like them, but in this dish, it tasted really nice cos it absorbed all the tom yum flavours.
DeleteOh I love tom yam! I have a feeling I would love this a lot!! Definitely my kind of dish this winter hehe
ReplyDeleteHehe make make! Next I'm gonna make the rendang and nasi tomato when I have time.
DeleteNow when are you going to open up your own restaurant?
ReplyDeleteHehe I'll have to find a potential investor first ;P
Deleteooh, as you know, i'm not a major fan of tom yum, but hey, i'd eat (and probably enjoy) anything you cook :D
ReplyDeleteAww thanks. Hubby isn't a huge fan of tom yum too, but he really liked this one.
Deletehey.. I didnt know you can put Tom yam paste in Sayur Lodeh... :)
ReplyDeleteI love my sayur lodeh with nasi himpit, peanuts and satay sauce... hahaha I m abit weird! ;)
Yeah it's a clever fusion dish by Chef Ismail. I loved it!
DeleteI never really tasted this before so it would be interesting. :)
ReplyDeleteI love greens and tom yum, so this was a great dish for me!
DeleteOh, nampak sedapnya!
ReplyDeleteOh it's very good! But next time must perah own santan.
Deletesometimes I wish I can just come over and taste your food :(
ReplyDeletealways looks so good and its very kind of you sharing the recipe, but one look and pening..haha
Heheheheh but most of my recipes are very simple, so you can recreate at home. Any homecook could do it, with a little confidence :D
Delete