Sayur lodeh

Last weekend I found a new Asian Market near Gaithersburg. I tried to shop at Lotte once but it is a bit too far from my place. Then my friend introduced me to this Grand Mart. I just love this place. Cooking becomes easy and easier with lot of Asian markets nearby. There are a huge selection of fish, veggies and fruits and Asian spices. I decided to cook sayur lodeh for lunch, accompanied by fried salted fish and sambal trassi.

This food reminds me of small resto stall near Cianjur in West Java. Many times back then, on the way up to the hilly areas where I traveled with the volunteers to our Water and Sanitation projects we made a stop at this small place served all West Java delicacies. And these menus was among our favorites. Well nothing is better to eat together with bunch of volunteers who always looked happy no matter how tired we were or how bad the road was. That was something to be missed  :)

Here is the lodeh recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cut string bean
1/2 cup cut Asian egg plants
1 chayote cut into diced
1/2 carrots sut into smaller parts
2 bay leaves
3 green chillies deseeded and slices in to two parts
2 cm galangal
1 cup water/ chicken broth
2 cups thick coconut milk

Spices: processed the following in the food processor or mortar.
2 tbs trassi
3 candle nuts
4 shallots
3 garlics
1/2 tbs chillie paste
1 tsp kencur powder (available at asian market)
1 tsp ground corriander
1-2 tsp salt

Direction:

1. Boil the water and coconut milk then add the bay leaves and the ground spices
2. Keep stirring while boiling and then add the rest of the ingredients
3. Keep boiling till all is well cooked (10-12 minutes)
4. Served with salted fish and sambal trassi.