Top 6 Southeast Asian Vegetable Soups

Sayur lodeh is a traditional dish made with vegetables stewed in coconut milk. Eggplant, jackfruit, melinjo, long beans, and carrots are the most common vegetables used in the dish. However, sayur lodeh is so versatile that any vegetable can be utilized. The spices can also be adjusted, but sayur lodeh should always be generously seasoned and spiced. The origin of sayur lodeh is the Indonesian island of Java, and it is traditionally served on slametan - Javanese feasts celebrating certain special occasions. From Java, the dish has spread throughout Indonesia, and it can be found in numerous traditional Indonesian restaurants or at hawker centers. It is commonly eaten alongside rice and sliced lontong rice cakes. The most frequent accompaniments include salted fish, chicken or beef, and spicy serundeng - a dish made with fried coconut flakes. Sayur lodeh is typically served as the main dish or an appetizer, and it is usually eaten warm. Although traditionally an Indonesian dish, it is also frequently prepared in Singapore and Malaysia.Expand

Sayur asem is a sweet and sour vegetable soup. Often referred to as tamarind soup, it is one of the favorite vegetable dishes in Indonesia. The entire dish is based on tamarind, an unusual plant commonly grown in Southeast Asia, which gives the dish a distinctive sour taste. Other traditional Indonesian ingredients in sayur asem include jackfruit, melinjo, long beans, bilimbi, pumpkin, corn, and chayote. Sayur asem originated among the Sundanese people residing in West Java. However, their original recipe for this traditional soup has been adapted across Indonesia. Employing the available ingredients, numerous different varieties of sayur asem have been created. Usually, these newly formed varieties were named after a region of their origin. This soup is extremely versatile and can be served as an appetizer, first course, or a side dish with the main meal. Most commonly it is served alongside rice, fried chicken, tempeh, tofu, and fried or salted fish. It is traditionally prepared during summer, when it is typically served warm.Expand

Tom chuet is a simple, clear soup made with vegetables, usually Chinese cabbage, carrots, and french beans, simmered in vegetable broth along with seasonings, celery, spring onions, garlic, and soy sauce. This dish can also use chicken or pork broth instead of vegetable broth and is often enriched with pork meatballs, glass noodles, soft tofu pieces, seaweed, and mushrooms. Also known as kaeng chuet or tom jued, this dish has a mild flavor that makes it quite different from other Thai dishes, which typically combine several flavors in one. It is traditionally served hot or warm, usually followed by other, spicier dishes.Expand

Also known as abraw and inabraw, dinengdeng is a traditional soup-like dish that's primarily made with a wide array of vegetables. It originates from the Ilocos region. The dish is typically prepared by boiling water in a pot, seasoning it with bagoong fish sauce, and then adding the vegetables, followed by fried or grilled fish on top, if desired. The vegetables used in dinegdeng most commonly include jute leaves, marunggay leaves, bitter melon leaves and fruits, alakon blossoms, amaranth leaves, calabaza squash and leaves, sweet potatoes, gourds, string beans, chili peppers, banana blossoms, okra, eggplant, corn, lima beans, mushrooms, taro, and yams. Before serving, dinengdeng can be topped with fish such as tilapia or bangus.Expand

Canh măng is a traditional soup originating from Vietnam. It's made with bamboo shoots as key ingredients. The soup also features sugar, fish sauce, fried shallots, and either sliced scallions or minced coriander. The bamboo shoots need to be boiled and rinsed before they're sliced and mixed with sugar, then lightly fried with the shallots. Water is added to the pot and the soup is simmered for an hour. It's then seasoned with fish sauce and topped with fried shallots and scallions or coriander. Canh măng is traditionally served during Lunar New Year (Tet) celebrations, and it is often served with steamed white rice.Expand

Easy to prepare and packed with healthy vegetables, utan is a famous Filipino soup which originated in Visayan Islands. This clear vegetable soup was originally a poor man’s dish, which included any vegetables that were at hand. Nowadays, it can also include a wide variety of root vegetables and leafy greens which are merely cooked in salted water. Occasionally, this nutritious soup can be enriched with chunks of meat or pieces of fried fish. Even though it originated as a frugal dish, today it is regarded as an extremely healthy soup that is typically prepared in many Filipino households.Expand