Growing up in a Baweanese family, the dining table was decked with simple dishes which were recurring within the week that thankfully I never got sick off.
there exists a simple vegetable soup dish that we had a lot of, aptly name in Baweanese language as 'Kuah Chelok' meaning 'sour soup'. as the name might suggest, it's light, refreshing and tangy with tamarind as it's star ingredient, alongside vegetables which sweetens the soup naturally and bit of chillies for piquancy. if there was a dish which could instantly remind me of my late grandmother, it was exactly that.
recently, we hung out with our office building cleaning assistant, Ibu Ram, who hails from Purwakarta, West Java. When we asked that she wanted, she politely requested a Sayur Asem (literally translates to sour vegetables), a simple yet much acquired dish from ger Sundanes culinary heritage. This instantly reminded me of my grandma's Kuah Chelok which is almost entirely similar (same same but maybe abit different). Much like how Kuah Chelok has become a gateway to reminiscing sweet memories of family, Sayur Asem to her reminds her of her mother and growing up in a village, before migrating to Singapore at 18 years old.
Below is the recipe for Sayur Asem, as how we made it for Ibu Ram. With Sayur Asem, the choice of vegetables is entirely up to you, however, the key to a good one is balancing it with just the right amount of sour, sweetness and spice, resulting in a simple yet vibrant flavour profile which is perfect for any time of the day.
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Sayur Asem Sunda (Mixed Vegetables in Tamarind Soup)
bumbu:
7 shallots, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
4 red chillies, sliced
1 chilli padi, optional
2 candlenuts, soaked in hot water
1 tbsp belachan, lightly charred
1/4 cup peanuts, raw
10 pcs melinjo fruit (optional)
3 long beans, cut to 2 inch pcs
2 whole corn, cut 2 inch thick
1 chayote, peeled and cubed
1 eggplant, cubed
300g young jackfruit pith, cubed
2 litres water
1 cup tamarind pulp, extract the juice with 1 cup water
20g galangal, bruised
5 salam leaves
50g palm sugar
2tsp mushroom stock granules, optional
salt
directions
1. prepare the young jackfruit by boiling it in 1 litre of water + 1 tbsp salt until it's softened but not disintegrated. discard water and set aside.
2. using a pestle and mortar or a blender, pulverise all bumbu ingredients into a paste.
3. combine the paste with 2 litres water in a pot and bring it to a boil. add the galangal, salam leaves and stock granules. let it bubble for 5 minutes to cook out the raw tastes.
4. pour in tamarind juice and simmer for another minute.
5. add in the melinjo fruit and peanuts. cover and simmer for 10 minutes. then, add the chayote, corn eggplant, precooked jackfruit and palm sugar. cover and simmer for another 6-8 minutes or until every vegetable is nice and tender and the sugar is dissolved.
6. lastly, add the long beans and comfort a minute. season sayur asam to taste and serve alongside steamed rice. enjoy!