Lontong / sayur lodeh

I made lontong (sayur lodeh) for dinner last night. This was one of my favourite dishes from my mum's kitchen. Could never have it often enough.


I never made lontong on my own before. I only had a rough recipe my mum sent via email some time ago and my memory from observing my mum to guide me.

The ingredients require a little bit of preparation beforehand, but the cooking part is fairly straightforward.

Ingredients
2-3 pips garlic, chopped finely
2 pieces shallots (or quarter red onion), chopped finely
2 tspn tumeric/kunyit powder
1 inch belacan
1 quarter cabbage, shredded roughly
1 handful long beans, sliced diagonally
2-3 carrots, julienned
1 potato, julienned
2 ½ cups coconut milk
1-2 cups vegetable/chicken stock
2 pieces beancurd, sliced into small cubes
Foo chuk (beancurd sheets)
Tang hoon (glass noodles)
2-3 tbspn tamarind water or lime juice

Heat oil in pot, brown garlic and shallots/onions until fragrant. Add tumeric and belacan, and fry a minute or two. Add cabbage, long beans, carrots and potato and continue frying a few minutes until vegetables start to soften. Pour in 2 cups of coconut milk (reserve remaining half cup for later) and vegetable stock and simmer for a few minutes (adjust the amount of stock depending on how soupy you want the dish to be). Add beancurd, foo chuk, tang hoon, tamarind water and remaining coconut milk. Season to taste.

Serve with ketupat (rice cakes) and sambal.

I served the lontong with sambal ikan bilis. To make this, just slice up an onion and fry in some oil until soft. Then pour in about a cup sambal sauce and a cup of ikan bilis (you can fry the ikan bilis beforehand for a crunchier texture).

Soooo good... tastes like home.