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Sayur asem is a tamarind-based dish from Indonesia, known for its sweet, sour, and spicy flavor. It is attributed to the Sundanese people and includes ingredients such as long beans, young jackfruit, and cucumber. There are different types of sayur asem, and it is typically eaten with fried or grilled foods and steamed rice.
Sayur asem, also known as sayur asam, is a tamarind-based dish from the Southeast Asian nation of Indonesia. Of the genus Tamarindus indica and belonging to the Fabaceae family of flowering plants, tamarind is commonly grown in southern Asia, although it is native to tropical Africa. Known for its sweet, sour, and spicy flavor, and sometimes referred to simply as Indonesian soup, sayur asem is one of several tamarind-based meals popular in Southeast Asia.
The Sundanese people, one of the largest ethnic groups in Indonesia and inhabiting the western part of the country, are credited with originating Sayur Asem. In particular, the dish is attributed to the Sundanese of the provinces of Bantan, West Java and Jakarta, which is the country’s capital and largest city. It is also a staple of another ethnic group, the Betawi, who are based in Jakarta and are neighbors of the Sundanese.
Traditional ingredients used to prepare Sayur Asem in addition to the acidic agent from the tamarind include long beans, young jackfruit, cucumber from the bilimbi tree, and pear squash from the chayote. Most recipes add corn and zucchini.
There are different types of sayur asem. These include sayur asem kangkung, which incorporates water spinach; sayur asem ikan asin, which uses salted fish or snake murrel; and sayur asem kacang merah, which uses red and green beans as its signature ingredients. Some versions of the soup are distinguished by more than just one ingredient or are named after the specific region of origin. For example, the Karo people of the northwestern Indonesian province of North Sumatra use unripe seed pods and torch ginger shoots from the herbaceous plant Etlingera elatior.
Most foods traditionally eaten with sayur asem are fried or grilled. Steamed rice, fried fish, and fried chicken recipes like Ayam Goreng Kalasan are three of the foods typically eaten with the soup. Some people may prefer to eat soy products, such as sweet marinated tofu or tempe bacem, which is the sweet, pickled version of a soy product native to Indonesia. Other foods that accompany well include empal goring, or sweet fried meat, and lalap, a Sundanese raw vegetable salad that is accompanied by a chilli-based sauce called sambal as a condiment or condiment.
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