Lontong Sayur Lodeh (Indonesian Vegetable Stew With Compressed Rice Cakes)

A small white bowl filled with sayur lodeh topped with lontong, scallions, sambal oelek and fresh cilantro leaves.

5 from 4 votes

Lontong Sayur Lodeh (Indonesian Vegetable Stew With Compressed Rice Cakes)

Get ready for some serious flavor and spice, because this lontong sayur lodeh recipe is a real treat. It’s a well-rounded nourishing coconut vegetable stew that is going to become one of your favies.

Let’s get cooking, my dear wild-west baby-man!

Prep Time6

Cook Time30

Total Time36

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Indonesian

Servings: servings

Calories: 478kcal

Author: Adam Sobel

Cost: $10.50

Equipment

Dutch oven
ladel

Ingredients

Spice paste ingredients:

5 shallots or 1 medium red onion diced
3 cloves garlic
1 inch 2.5 cm. galangal
½ inch fresh turmeric or 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
4 Birds Eye chilies or to taste
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Soup:

1 medium size russet potato peeled and diced into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
3 tablespoon oil
14 oz. tempeh cut into 1cm cubes
1 Chinese eggplant cut in half the long way, and sliced in 1 cm. sections
6 Thai eggplant quartered
2 small tomatoes quartered
13.5 oz coconut milk
3 ⅓ cups 800 ml. unsalted vegetable stock, or water
2 teaspoons salt or to taste
2 tablespoons coconut sugar palm sugar, or brown sugar
4 Indonesian daun salam Indonesian bay leaves, or two regular bay leaves
8 snake beans long beans, or string beans cut into 2-inch sections
2 additional whole bird’s eye chilies optional

To serve:

2 lontongs cut into large pieces
Sambal Oelek to taste
Cilantro leaves
Thinly sliced scallions

Instructions

Place the shallots, garlic, galangal, turmeric, coriander, chilies, and lemon juice into a blender, and blend on high speed for 90 seconds until a paste is formed.
Place the large diced potatoes into a pot of water and bring them to a boil. Cook them until fork tender and then drain and set aside.
While the potatoes are cooking, heat the oil in a wok or dutch oven over a high flame for 60 seconds. When the oil is hot, add the tempeh and eggplant. Sauté, stirring regularly, for eight minutes until the tempeh and eggplant are evenly browned all over.
Stir in the tomatoes and spice paste, and sauté stirring for two more minutes, until the paste is distributed all over the tempeh and eggplant.
Add the coconut milk, vegetable stock (or water), salt, coconut sugar, and Indonesian bay leaves. Bring the pot to a boil.
When the pot has reached a boil, and the largest pieces of eggplant feel tender and buttery, add the pre-cooked potatoes, snake beans, and optional extra chilies. Reduce heat to medium and cook for four more minutes until the vegetables are fully cooked.
Serve the soup in individual bowls, topped with chunks of lontong, sambal oelek, cilantro and scallions.

Notes

Lontong Sayur Lodeh can be customized with additional vegetables such as pumpkin or greens, making it a versatile dish to prepare with whatever fresh produce is available. Additionally, the spice paste can be made in larger batches and stored in the refrigerator or freezer for future use.

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