Lontong Sumpil (Eastern Javanese Spicy Vegetable Soup in Coconut Milk with Rice Cake)

A really humble dish from my mother’s hometown in Blitar. It is usually sold in pair with Pecel Punten. A dish that I would always buy or beg my aunt to make when I go there. A sort of comfort food if you may say.
But weirdly since I live here I could cook dishes I never imagine I could cook by myself not even in a million years 😀 now that is a good side of living 12.000km away from home. Life is not that bad right 😉 You just have to make the most of it.
Back to my dish, I enjoyed it while sitting in my balcony, the sun was shining, the wind was caressing me gently. I closed my eyes and just imagined sitting in the kitchen of my aunt’s house back in Blitar.

Sumpil

For 4-5 people

Rice Cake

Ingredients:
– I used 1 instant rice cake in plastic sachet but of course you are free to use your own method of making rice cake.
– 1 tsp kapur sirih (lime stone) dissolved in a little bowl of water

Directions:
– Boil rice cake in lots of water along with the lime stone water for 2 hours until rice cake is done.
– Cooled rice cake in a colander.

Sayur Lodeh

Ingredients:
– 200 gr Kacang Merah, soaked overnight (adzuki beans, haricot rouge, red bean, Vigna angularis) In Indonesia we usually use kacang tolo (Vigna unguiculata) but I couldn’t find that but the red bean tasted just as nice.
– 200 gr long beans, cut 2 cm long
– 12pcs shallots
– 6pcs garlic
– 3 red chilies (more or less depending on personal taste buds)
– 2 bird’s eye chili (more or less depending on personal taste buds)
– 2 cm galangal bruised
– 3 pcs salam leaves
– 1 tsp salt
– 1/2 tsp dried shrimp paste
– 1/2 tsp sugar
– 2 tsp dried shrimp (ebi) fried
– 200 ml thick coconut milk
– 1 ltr water (more or less depends on how thick or thin you want the end result)
– some oil for stir frying

Directions;
– Grind shallots, garlic, chilies, salt, dried shrimp paste, sugar, dried shrimp into a paste.
– Fry spice paste until fragrant, add galangal and salam leaves.
– Add water and coconut milk, wait until it boils.
– Add kacang merah then after five minutes add long beans.
– After the vegetable is soft add fried tofu.
– Stir now and then and cook until it’s all done.
– It’s even better to eat the next day of cooking.

Feel free to mix and match vegetable of your choice ie; jackfruit, labu siam (chayote), bamboo shoot.

Bubuk Kedelai (Soy Bean Powder)

Ingredients:
– 200 gr soy bean, soaked for 1-2 hours
– 2 clove garlic, sliced and deep fried
– 2 kaffir lime leaves
– 2 cm lesser galangal
– 1 tsp salt

Directions:
– Panbroil soy bean, kaffir lime leaves, lesser galangal until dry and soy bean is done.
– Grind in a food processor until smooth, add fried garlic and salt.
– Sieve with a colander to get a smoother result.

Finishing
– Cut rice cake into bite size pieces, top with vegetable.
– Sprinkle with soy beans powder.
– Serve with krupuk kampung (optional)

Source: My mother