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Vegetable lawar
Balinese long beans and toasted coconut tossed with base genep spice paste, lime and fried shallots
Lawar is the dish of Balinese ceremonies: before a temple festival or a family rite, the men of the banjar gather at dawn to chop and mix it by hand in huge quantities. Many versions include meat, but lawar kacang, made with long beans, is common at home and at Balinese warungs, and it shows off base genep, the island's master spice paste of shallot, garlic, galangal, kencur, turmeric and chilli. Mixed with toasted grated coconut, it's crunchy, fragrant, sour and hot, and is eaten with rice the day it's made. Chef's tip: mix the lawar just before serving and with your hands, squeezing gently, so the spice paste works into the beans; made too early, it goes watery and dull.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the base genep
For the lawar
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Pound or blitz 5 shallots, 4 cloves garlic, 1 ⅛ in galangal, ¾ in kencur (aromatic ginger), ¾ in turmeric root, ¾ in ginger, 3 candlenuts, 4 red bird's eye chillies, 1 tsp coriander seeds, ½ tsp black peppercorns and 1 stalk lemongrass to a fine, thick, orange paste.
8 minStep 2: Heat 3 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium-low heat and fry the paste with 1 tsp salt for 8–10 minutes, stirring often, until it darkens to golden brown, smells sweet and nutty, and the oil separates. Cool.
10 minStep 3: Toast 5 ½ oz freshly grated coconut in a dry pan over a medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for 4–5 minutes until light golden and fragrant. Don't let it go brown. If using 5 ½ oz firm tofu, fry the cubes in a little oil for 5 minutes until golden.
5 minStep 4: Blanch 14 oz long beans or green beans in salted boiling water for 2–3 minutes until bright green and just tender, then plunge into cold water, drain and dry well. Chop very finely, about 3 mm, the Balinese way. Overcooking the beans until olive-green is the easy mistake to make; they should still squeak.
5 minStep 5: Just before eating, put the beans, coconut, tofu and 3–4 tbsp of the fried paste in a big bowl. Add 3 makrut lime leaves, 2 limes and 1 tsp sugar and mix with clean hands, squeezing gently, until the beans are evenly orange.
3 minStep 6: Taste and add more paste, salt or lime; it should be sour, hot and fragrant. Fold in most of the 4 tbsp crispy fried shallots, scatter the rest on top and serve with rice. Leftover base genep keeps a week in the fridge.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 280 kcal
- Protein
- 7 g
- Carbs
- 18 g
- Fat
- 21 g
- Fibre
- 7 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does vegetable lawar take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of shallots?
- Half an onion per 2 shallots.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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