Sayur Lodeh: The Everyday Coconut Vegetable Stew

Ingredients

• For the bumbu kuning (spice paste)
• 4 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 candlenuts or macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
• 1 stalk lemongrass, white part only, sliced
• For the stew
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 3 daun salam (Indonesian bay leaves)
• 3 cm galangal, bruised
• 600 ml coconut milk
• 400 ml water
• 150 g long beans, cut into 4 cm lengths
• 1 medium chayote, peeled, seeded and cut into batons
• 150 g cabbage, coarsely shredded
• 150 g firm tofu, cut into 2 cm cubes
• 100 g tempeh, cut into 1 cm slices
• 150 g young jackfruit, canned or fresh, drained and torn into pieces
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste

Method

1. 1
   Combine the shallots, garlic, turmeric, ground coriander, candlenuts, and lemongrass in a stone mortar or blender. Grind to a smooth, uniform paste. The paste is ready when no coarse fragments remain and the colour is a deep, even ochre.
2. 2
   Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pot over a medium flame. Add the bumbu kuning paste, the daun salam, and the bruised galangal. Fry, stirring constantly, until the raw smell of shallot and turmeric has given way to a warm, toasted fragrance — this is where the dish lives or dies: under-fried paste will leave the stew muddy and harsh; properly fried paste will carry a sweetness that no subsequent step can supply.
3. 3
   Pour in the coconut milk and water. Bring the liquid to a gentle simmer, stirring to integrate the paste. The surface should move with a low, even murmur — do not allow a rolling boil, which will break the coconut milk.
4. 4
   Add the young jackfruit, chayote, and long beans — the denser, slower-cooking vegetables first. Simmer uncovered until the chayote offers only slight resistance when pressed with a spoon, approximately 10 minutes.
5. 5
   Add the cabbage, tofu, and tempeh. Continue to simmer until the cabbage is just tender and has lost its raw opacity, and the tofu has absorbed a visible golden tinge from the broth.
6. 6
   Season with salt. Taste the broth: it should be gently savoury, faintly sweet from the coconut, with the galangal and daun salam present as background notes rather than dominant ones. Adjust salt as needed, then remove the daun salam and galangal before serving.