Sayur Lodeh (vegetables coconut curry stew)

How to make Sayur Lemak Lodeh, or Malay-Indonesian style mixed vegetables stewed in a coconut curry.

Sayur Lemak Lodeh (sayur lodeh/lemak lodeh) is a dish of mixed vegetables stewed in a coconut curry soup. This is more of a light curry, that is full of flavour and umami. This Malay-Indonesian dish is gorgeous with some lontong, or rice cakes, or with just plain rice.

Healthy No-Oil Version for Sayur Lodeh

For this recipe, I sauteed the base paste in oil first to release the aroma and flavours. You can skip this step altogether if you want a healthier Sayur Lodeh. To a pot of water, add the base paste and stir through. Once the soup boils, add in the vegetables. Easy.

How to Make a Vegan Sayur Lodeh

Need to feed vegans or vegetarians? All you do is remove the dried shrimp paste and dried shrimps! The ingredients do add a lot of distinctive umami flavour, but I find the dish fares well without it. If you want to include the umami, try adding mushroom seasoning powder.

Gravy Thickness

Adjust coconut milk to water ratio to your gravy thickness preference. I added 800ml of water to my 250ml of coconut milk because I prefer a soupy consistency. For a thicker curry, I suggest a 1:2 ratio.

What Vegetables to Use for Sayur Lodeh

While carrots, long beans, jicamas, cabbages, tofu and tempe are traditionally used, there are no rules to the vegetables and proteins you can actually add! I always freestyle my vegetables depending on what I need to get rid of in the fridge).

In this recipe, I added the cabbages early on since I like very soft, wilted and transparent cabbages! If you prefer a crunchier bite, add it later.

Cooking with Coconut Milk

When adding the coconut milk, you want to make sure the soup is not boiling hot, or else your milk will curdle. It does not affect really affect taste, but it is not a pretty sight. Another tip to try is to gently stir in just one direction to not “disturb” the coconut milk too much.

Tofu Puffs

I used tofu puffs, though traditionally fried firm tofu and tempe are used. If using the tofu and tempe, make sure you pan fry it first before adding it into the dish. You can use firm tofu, for a healthier alternative, but do note the tofu might break in the stew.

More Recipes Like This:

If you enjoy this vegetable recipe, you might enjoy these too:

• Achar Nonya Awak
• Eggplant Balado Vegetables
• Sambal Goreng

Sayur Lodeh

Recipe by Sha

4.5 from 2 votes

Course: Eats, Recipes

Servings

2-3

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• 1/4 head Cabbage

• 1 Carrot

• 2-3 stalks Long Beans

• 1 Small Jicama (I used Sweet Turnip)

• 3-4 Tofu Puffs, or Firm Tofu

• 250ml Coconut Milk

• 800ml Water

• 2 Red Chillies, deseeded for garnishing

• Base Paste, blended:

• 4-5 Shallots or 1 medium-sized Onion

• 2-3 Garlic Cloves

• 2 Lemongrass Stalks, inner core, sliced

• 1 tbsp Belachan or Dried Shrimp Paste

• 1 tbsp Dried Shrimps, soaked in warm water

• 2-3 Fresh Red Chillies (omit for non spicy version)

• 1 tbsp Turmeric Powder

Directions

• Blend ingredients for the base paste.
• In a pot, add some oil. Once hot, saute the base paste.
• Stir fry the base paste until fragrant, and then add in vegetables that will take longer to cook. In this case, the carrots and long beans.
• Add in water or stock and let boil.
• Once boiling, add in the rest of the vegetables and let cook.
• Lower the heat, and pour in coconut milk.
• Seasoning with salt, and sugar.
• Add in tofu puffs (or fried tofu and tempe).

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