SAYUR lodeh or lemak lodeh is a rich coconut stew loaded with vegetables. It is common for hardy vegetables such as carrots, long beans, Chinese eggplant and jicama to be used in this recipe as they tend to hold shape and not soften during cooking or reheating. Add nasi impit or ketupat to sayur lodeh and you have the Javanese dish of lontong, which is popular in Johor.
I remember looking forward to having lontong for Hari Raya Aidilfitri at open houses hosted by neighbours and my Malay classmates during my childhood years in Kluang, Johor. While it is common for side dishes such as serunding daging, serunding kelapa, rendang or kuah kacang to be served alongside lontong, my favourite is sambal ikan bilis for the spicy contrast it adds to the dish. Since we enjoy eating sayur lodeh, it seemed wise to invest time learning how to make it.
Sayur lodeh is not a vegetarian dish because the recipe calls for dried shrimp. Besides dried shrimp, one can add fresh prawns to elevate the flavour profile. Ingredients for ‘sayur lodeh’.
There are recipes that call for glass noodles but I prefer leaving it out because it tends to soak up the liquid and thicken the soup. Since this dish is made with thick santan, it is advisable to keep stirring the coconut milk during cooking to prevent it from splitting. Sayur lodeh should not be too thick or too runny, but have a moderate consistency that makes it easy to eat with nasi impit or rice cakes.
If nasi impit or ketupat are not available, i.
