This is a sayur asem cabbage with ebi. Are you familiar with ebi? That’s dried shrimp. They always have a much stronger flavor than fresh shrimp. It’s also very handy to have dried shrimp on hand. If you don’t have any, just use regular shrimp, as I did. I used Dutch shrimp who have more flavor than the bigger norwegian ones.

This sayur asem cabbage is ready in 20 minutes and serves 4 people (wihtout soaking your ebi for 1 hour).

Sayur Asem Cabbage

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Sayur Asem Cabbage with Ebi (dried shrimp) #105
Beb Vuyk’s Groot Indonesisch Kookboek, page 114.

Ingredients

• 1/2 kg chopped cabbage
• 2 tablespoons ebi
• 1 bouillon cube
• 1/2 liter water

Herbs

• 3 tablespoons chopped onions
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon sambal terasi
• 4 roasted candlenuts
• 2 tablespoons asem water made from a walnut-sized piece of asem
• 1 teaspoon galangal
• 1 teaspoon Javanese sugar
• 1 salam leaf
• salt

1. Soak the ebi for approximately 1 hour.
2. Pound the herbs together with the eb and the roasted candlenuts.
3. Bring the water, bouillon cube, asem water, salam, ground herbs, and ebi to a boil and let it steep for about 10 minutes.
4. Then add the cabbage and simmer the sayur until the cabbage starts to get tender.

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You can easily make your own sambal trassi if you don’t have any at home. For now I add a teaspoon of trassi to this recipe where I use regular sambal. If you really want to make sambal trassi yourself, I have the recipe for you here.

I start by roasting the candlenuts. These can be slightly toxic if you don’t roast them. To learn more about Indonesian spices, go to this link.

Then, along with the warm candlenuts, I grind the bumbu together in a mortar (cobek).

I don’t have a bouillon cube, but I do have fresh bouillon left over from another dish. I heat the half-liter of bouillon and then add the cabbage. Depending on the type of cabbage, you’ll know how long to cook it. I use Chinese cabbage. It’s lovely and light and cooks quickly. I keep a close eye on it to make sure it stays crisp. The flavor of the whole dish is wonderfully strong. You can really smell the aroma of shrimp. It’s a delicious combination with the cabbage.

I add some tomatoes for color, and they complement the dish nicely. I also add a leaf of Coleus Amboinicus, also known as Cuban oregano, Mexican mint, or five-in-one herb. It’s a plant that’s easy to grow on the kitchen windowsill, which is what I do. It’s delicious and has a strong flavor. A mix of mint, oregano, and thyme. Delicious!