Sayur sop (literally ‘vegetable soup’) is a comfort food for many Indonesians and it’s usually served, accompanied by rice, for lunch or dinner. As the name suggests, the soup is prepared with a mix of vegetables.
In Indonesia, vegetable vendors often have sayur sop bundles, so we don’t have to buy each veggie separately. The basic package generally consists of potato, cabbage, carrot, green beans, spring onion, celery and a small sachet of instant sayur sop spice powder.
Sayur sop can be as simple and basic, like the bundles from the neighborhood vegetable stalls, but it can also be elevated into a more sophisticated dish too. For example, chicken or beef might be incorporated to prepare the broth, more vegetable varieties might be added, or a few more spices such as ginger, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg might be put in to add strength and complexity. Pricey ingredients such as white fungus, quail eggs, sausage, etc, might also be included.
A simple sayur sop tastes refreshingly clean and homey. Maybe that’s the reason why children love it. A basic sayur sop is easy to make and this is one of the first dishes Indonesian mothers like to teach to their young daughters.
In this recipe, we will cover the basic sayur sop, using carrot, potato, green beans and cabbage, with a simple seasoning of freshly ground shallot, garlic, white peppercorn and mushroom stock powder. To enhance the flavor, spring onion and celery are added too. This recipe is suitable for vegans as no animal produce is included.
Please feel free to add or substitute the vegetables. Cauliflower, ear mushroom, snow peas and tomato are used frequently for the soup.
Serve the soup with or without rice, though Indonesians will naturally have it with rice. For lunch or dinner, the dish is wonderful when paired with any fried protein, such as empal, tahu goreng, ayam goreng, etc. A dollop of sambal terasi or any other sambal of your choice will definitely round up the meal.
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Sayur Sop: Indonesian Vegetable Soup (Vegan)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
- Category: Vegetables
- Method: Boiling
- Cuisine: Indonesian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Sayur sop is a simple vegetable soup that is very popular in Indonesian home cooking. It’s healthy, vegan, light, and nutritious. Add some noodles or pasta to make it a one-pot meal.
Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped
- 3 shallots, peeled, chopped
- 1 tsp white peppercorn
- 1 carrot, peeled, chopped
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled, cubed
- 100 gr white cabbage, remove the stalk, cut into bite size
- 50 gr french beans (optional)
- 1 stalk spring onion, sliced
- 1 stalk celery, sliced or knotted
- Salt to taste
- 0.5 tsp mushroom stock powder
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 1.5 lt water
Instructions
- Blend or pound the garlic, shallots and white peppercorn into a fine paste.
- Boil the water over high heat.
- In another pan, heat the cooking oil over a medium flame, and saute the garlic paste until fragrant (around 2 minutes).
- Add the sauteed garlic paste into the boiling water, cook for around 5 minutes over medium heat.
- Add the salt and the mushroom stock.
- Add the carrot, potato and french beans. Continue to cook for around 10 minutes.
- Add the white cabbage, spring onion and celery. Cook for another 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and leave the soup to rest for a while before serving.
Notes
- Adding some pasta such as macaroni will make it into a one pot meal.
- Do not cook the vegetables too long to retain the crunch and nutritional value.
Keywords: Vegetarian clear soup, simple vegetarian dishes, asian soups
