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Sayur Asem (Indonesian Vegetable Tamarind Soup)

written by Marvellina Updated: February 3, 2019
12.4K
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Vegetables are cooked in Tamarind broth and other common Indonesian spices and herbs. It’s sour, sweet, and lightly spicy.

Sayur Asem (Indonesian Vegetable Tamarind Soup)
The origin of this Indonesian vegetable tamarind soup or known as sayur asam/asem can be traced to Sundanese people of West Java, Banten and Jakarta region.

Sayur asem, needless to say, is a favorite among many locals. Whenever we went to restaurants that serve native Indonesian cuisines, we always order this sayur asem soup. The soup are made with lots of different variety of vegetables. Common vegetables used in this sayur asem are melinjo (which I couldn’t find here in MN), chayote, long beans, corn, cabbage, tomatoes and all cooked in tamarind-based and spices soups. Melinjo or known as Gnetum Gnemon is native to Indonesia and the seeds are famously used in this sayur asem or ground into flour to make crackers call emping/melinjo crackers.

Sayur Asem (Indonesian Vegetable Tamarind Soup)

This is one of my favorite soups. I used to buy the Tamarind soup paste from the store and all you need are the other ingredients. I noticed though there are MSG in the ingredient list and so I have came up with my own vegetable tamarind soup after many rounds of adjustments made to the recipe, I think I finally got it to where I like it. I have no luck in finding melinjo so far, however, the sayur asam still turned out fabulous.

Sayur Asem (Indonesian Vegetable Tamarind Soup)

Sayur Asem (Indonesian Vegetable Tamarind Soup)

Sayur Asem (Indonesian Vegetable Tamarind Soup)

Servings 4 -6 servings
4.8 from 4 reviews
REVIEW & RATE PRINT

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp cooking oil
  • 3 oz melinjo I used raw peanuts instead since I couldn't find melinjo
  • 3 oz long beans cut into 2-inch length
  • 2 sweet corns (cut into 1 or 2 inch pieces)
  • 2 large chayotes (peeled and cubed)
  • 5-6 cabbage (cut into large piece)
  • 2 tomatoes (quartered)
  • 3 bay leaves/daun salam
  • 8 cups beef broth
  • 2 Tbsp seedless tamarind paste + 3 Tbsp warm water
  • 2 Tbsp Gula Jawa or substitute with brown sugar
  • Salt to taste

Ground Spices:

  • 1 Thumb-size of galangal (mashed it with the side of a cleaver or heavy object and remove later before serving)
  • 3 shallots
  • 1 bird's eye chilis (more if you want it spicier)
  • 5 red chilis
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 4 candlenuts/kemiri
  • 1 tsp of shrimp paste /terasi

Instructions
 

  • Put all the ingredient for ground spices into a food processor and process into a fine paste, you may need a little water to get it going. Set aside. Mix tamarind paste with warm water and mash with back of the spoon to get the tamarind juice, discard the solid
  • Preheat a large pot and add cooking oil. Add in the paste and stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add bay leaves, and beef broth. Bring it to a boil and then add in the rest of the vegetables and then lower the heat and let it gently simmer for about 30 minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked through but not mushy. Have a taste and season with more salt and sugar as needed. It should be sweet, tangy, savory, and slightly spicy
  • Serve with rice and other dishes as part of multi-course meal
Did you make this recipe?Let me know how you like this recipe and consider rating it! Tag me @whattocooktoday I'd love to see your photos/videos on Instagram

Sayur Asem (Indonesian Vegetable Tamarind Soup)

Sayur Asem (Indonesian Vegetable Tamarind Soup)

previous post
Steamed Kuih Lapis/ Gao Teng Kueh / Jiu Ceng Gao (九层糕)
next post
Bakwan Jagung / Perkedel Jagung (Indonesian Corn Fritters)

8 comments

Pauline June 1, 2020 - 5:32 am

Hi, the 8 cups of water is meant to be the beef broth you mentioned in your instructions?

Reply
Marv June 1, 2020 - 12:26 pm

Hi Pauline, sorry for the confusion. yes, the 8 cups of water is meant to be the beef broth. Thank you for pointing this out.

Reply
Daisy February 3, 2019 - 10:37 am

hi — how many people does this recipe serve?

Reply
Marvellina February 3, 2019 - 10:14 pm

Hi Daisy,

It can serve 4-6 generous servings.

Reply
omik reknak February 5, 2018 - 9:52 am

Do they eat this with rice or other carbs?

Reply
Marvellina February 5, 2018 - 7:36 pm

This is usually eaten with rice in Indonesia 🙂

Reply
Sabbena April 22, 2021 - 1:21 am

A great recipe with beautiful picture. The only difference from the way Indonesians make it here is it’s made with just plain water and not broth. We use another local ingredient called terasi which is fermented shrimp paste to flavor tge whole thing

Reply
Marvellina April 22, 2021 - 5:38 pm

Hi Sabbena, I love terasi too. It’s not always easy for me to get terasi here, but yes terasi adds a great flavor to many or our Southeast Asian dishes 🙂

Reply
4.75 from 4 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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