Sayur asem or sayur asam is an
Indonesian vegetable soup
Vegetable soup is a common soup prepared using vegetables and leaf vegetables as primary ingredients. It dates to ancient history, and is a mass-produced food product in contemporary times.
Overview
Vegetable soup is prepared using vegetables, ...
. It is a popular
Southeast Asian dish originating from
Sundanese cuisine, consisting of vegetables in
tamarind
Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabaceae ...
soup.
The sweet and sour flavour of this dish is considered refreshing and very compatible with fried or grilled dishes, including
salted fish
Salted fish, such as kippered herring or dried and salted cod, is fish cured with dry salt and thus preserved for later eating. Drying or salting, either with dry salt or with brine, was the only widely available method of preserving fish u ...
, ''
ikan goreng'', ''
ayam goreng'' and ''
lalapan'', a kind of vegetable salad usually served raw but can also be cooked, and is usually eaten with
steamed rice
Cooked rice refers to rice that has been cooked either by steaming or boiling. The terms steamed rice or boiled rice are also commonly used. Any variant of Asian rice (both Indica and Japonica varieties), African rice or wild rice, glutinous ...
and ''
sambal terasi'' chili paste.
The origin of the dish can be traced to the
Sundanese people
The Sunda or Sundanese ( id, Orang Sunda; su, ᮅᮛᮀ ᮞᮥᮔ᮪ᮓ, Urang Sunda) are an indigenous ethnic group native to the western region of Java island in Indonesia, primarily West Java. They number approximately 42 million and form ...
of
West Java
West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
,
Banten
Banten ( id, Banten; Sundanese: , romanized ''Banten'') is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Ja ...
and the
Jakarta region. It is well known to belong within
Sundanese cuisine and the
Betawi daily diet.
Ingredients
Common ingredients are
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...
s, young
jackfruit
The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family ( Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, ...
, young leaves and unpeeled seeds of ''
melinjo'',
bilimbi
''Averrhoa bilimbi'' (commonly known as bilimbi, cucumber tree, or tree sorrel) is a fruit-bearing tree of the genus ''Averrhoa'', family Oxalidaceae.
It is a close relative of the carambola tree.
Description
''Averrhoa bilimbi'' is a small ...
,
chayote
Chayote (''Sechium edule''), also known as mirliton and choko, is an edible plant belonging to the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. This fruit was first cultivated in Mesoamerica between southern Mexico and Honduras, with the most genetic diversity ...
, and
long beans, all cooked in tamarind-based soups and sometimes enriched with
beef stock
Stock, sometimes called bone broth, is a savory cooking liquid that forms the basis of many dishes particularly soups, stews, and sauces. Making stock involves simmering animal bones, meat, seafood, or vegetables in water or wine, often for an ...
. Quite often, the recipe also includes
corn.
Variants
Several variations exist including ''sayur asem Jakarta'' (a version from the Betawi people of
Jakarta), ''sayur asem kangkung'' (a version which includes
water spinach), ''sayur asem ikan asin'' (includes salted fish, usually
snakehead murrel), and ''sayur asem kacang merah'' (consists of
red beans and
green beans in tamarind and beef stock). The
Karo version of sayur asem is made using
torch ginger buds and, more importantly, the sour-tasting seed pods. ''Sayur asem rembang'' is a
vegetable soup
Vegetable soup is a common soup prepared using vegetables and leaf vegetables as primary ingredients. It dates to ancient history, and is a mass-produced food product in contemporary times.
Overview
Vegetable soup is prepared using vegetables, ...
with a sour flavor.
See also
*
Sinigang
''Sinigang'' is a Filipino soup or stew characterized by its sour and savory taste. It is most often associated with tamarind ( Filipino: ''sampalok''), although it can use other sour fruits and leaves as the souring agent. It is one of the mor ...
*
List of Indonesian soups
This is a list of Indonesian soups. Indonesian cuisine is diverse, in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 18,000 in the world's largest archipelago,
*
List of soups
*
List of vegetable soups
This is a list of vegetable soups. Vegetable soup is a common soup prepared using vegetables and leaf vegetables as primary ingredients.
Vegetable soups
* Atama soup – a vegetable and palm nut soup that originates in South Nigeria.
*
*
...
References
Sundanese cuisine
Indonesian soups
Vegetarian dishes of Indonesia
Vegetable dishes of Indonesia
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