Sayur Asem (Indonesian Sour Vegetable Soup)
In short: A light, tangy-sweet vegetable soup of corn, long beans, chayote and peanuts with tamarind, palm sugar and a little chili, eaten with rice. It takes about 1 h in total and makes 6 servings.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Total
- 1 h
- Servings
- 6
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Calories
- 195 kcal
Sayur asem is a cheerful sour vegetable soup cooked daily in Jakarta and across West Java. Corn, long beans, chayote, peanuts and tomatoes simmer in a light broth soured with tamarind and sweetened with palm sugar. The balance of sour, sweet and salty is what you aim for. It is a side dish rather than a meal on its own, eaten with rice, fried fish or tempeh and a sambal.
Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Add the peanuts and simmer for 15 minutes to soften them.
- Blend the shallots, garlic, candlenuts, chilies and shrimp paste into a rough paste. Stir it into the pot with the bay leaves and galangal.
- Add the corn and simmer for 8 minutes. Add the chayote and cook for 8 more minutes.
- Stir in the strained tamarind, palm sugar and salt. Add the long beans and simmer for 4 minutes, then the tomatoes for 2 minutes.
- Taste and adjust. The soup should taste pleasantly sour, mildly sweet and well salted. Add more tamarind or sugar as needed.
- Serve hot in bowls with rice, fried tempeh or fish and sambal.
Tips
- For a vegetarian soup, leave out the shrimp paste and add 1 tbsp more tamarind and a pinch of extra salt. Pumpkin, cabbage and young tamarind leaves are common additions.
- Add the green vegetables last so they stay bright. Overcooked beans turn dull and soft, and the soup loses its fresh character.
Questions and answers
What can I use instead of chayote?
Zucchini, green papaya or cabbage work well. Add zucchini only in the last 5 minutes, because it softens much faster than chayote.
Can I make sayur asem ahead?
Yes, it keeps for 2 days in the fridge and often tastes better the next day. Reheat gently and do not boil hard, or the vegetables turn mushy.
Is sayur asem very sour?
It should be tangy but balanced by sweetness. Adjust the tamarind and palm sugar to taste, since tamarind pulp varies a lot in sourness from brand to brand.
How long does it take to make Sayur Asem (Indonesian Sour Vegetable Soup)?
About 1 h in total: 20 min of preparation and 40 min of cooking.
How many calories are in Sayur Asem (Indonesian Sour Vegetable Soup)?
About 195 kcal per serving, with 7 g of protein, 29 g of carbohydrates and 7 g of fat. These values are estimates.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 195 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 29 g |
| Fat | 7 g |
| Fiber | 6 g |
| Sugar | 14 g |
| Sodium | 700 mg |
Estimated values, calculated from the ingredients.
