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Lontong balap
Lontong balap Surabaya: rice cakes, bean sprouts and tofu in broth with bean fritters and sambal petis
IndonesianLontong balap is Surabaya's morning bowl, named after sellers who once raced (balap) each other to market with their heavy carts. Slices of compressed rice cake are piled with blanched bean sprouts, fried tofu and lentho, little fritters of black-eyed beans and cassava, then soaked with a light garlicky broth and a spoon of sambal mixed with petis, the dark, sweet shrimp paste of East Java. Eat it with skewers of sate kerang if you like. The common mistake is boiling the sprouts too long; they should keep a snap. Chef's tip: stir the petis into the sambal with a little hot broth first, so it melts into the bowl instead of sitting in a sticky blob.
- Total time
- 65 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the lentho
- 7 oz cooked black-eyed beansdrained
- 5 ½ oz grated cassavafresh or frozen, squeezed dry
- 2 garlic clovescrushed
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ¼ cups vegetable oilfor shallow frying
For the bowls
- 1 ⅛ lb ready-made lontong (compressed rice cakes)sliced
- 9 oz firm tofucut in cubes
- 10 ½ oz mung bean sprouts
- 4 garlic clovessliced
- 1 litre water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 tbsp crisp fried shallots
- 2 spring onionssliced
For the sambal petis
- 4 bird's eye chilliesor to taste
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What you'll need
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Mash 7 oz cooked black-eyed beans roughly with a fork and mix with 5 ½ oz grated cassava, 2 garlic cloves, ½ tsp ground coriander and ½ tsp salt. Shape into 12 small flat patties.
Step 2: Heat 1 ¼ cups vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the patties for 3 minutes a side until crisp and deep golden. Drain on paper. Fry 9 oz firm tofu in the same oil for 5 minutes until golden on all sides.
12 minStep 3: For the broth, fry 4 garlic cloves in 1 tbsp of the frying oil until pale gold, then add 1 litre water, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar and simmer for 5 minutes.
7 minStep 4: Pound or blend 4 bird's eye chillies, then stir in 2 tbsp petis (East Javan black shrimp paste) with 2 tbsp of the hot broth to make a loose sambal.
Step 5: Drop 10 ½ oz mung bean sprouts into the simmering broth for 30 seconds, just until they wilt but still crunch, and lift out with a slotted spoon.
Step 6: Divide 1 ⅛ lb ready-made lontong (compressed rice cakes) between bowls and top with sprouts, tofu and torn lentho. Ladle over the hot broth, drizzle with 3 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and add sambal to taste. Finish with 3 tbsp crisp fried shallots and 2 spring onions.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 480 kcal
- Protein
- 20 g
- Carbs
- 62 g
- Fat
- 17 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does lontong balap take?
- About 65 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 35 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of garlic cloves?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
- What can I use instead of ground coriander?
- Coriander seeds, toasted and ground.
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