Traditional Indonesian East Java’s Vegan Dadar Jagung (Corn Fritters) & Kuah Sayur Bening (Clear Vegetable Soup)

Indonesia is well-known for its delicious and mouth-watering street foods, and corn is commonly sold as street food in many forms. For example, they are steamed and sold as snacks in their eco-friendly husks. “Today I am pleased to invite you to join me in cooking Indonesian Corn Fritters and Clear Vegetable Soup, which are dishes from East Java.”

“Let’s start cooking the first dish, which is Corn Fritters. The first step is to cut the corn off the cob. Now we process the chili. We will remove the seeds first. After we remove the seeds, we cut them into small pieces. Next, we will also cut the celery leaves into small pieces. These celery leaves will give our food its green color.

Now we remove the skin of the galangal. Make it loose by pressing it with a knife, then cut it into small pieces. Put the galangal pieces into the mortar. Add vegan sugar. Add coriander, pepper, salt, vegan seasoning, lime leaves, and vegan butter. Now we are going to transfer these into a big mixing bowl. Then we add in the wheat flour and rice flour. Gradually add water and mix the ingredients well. Here is what the batter looks like.

It is ready to be deep-fried. Scoop a ladleful of the corn fritter batter and gently place them in the hot oil. When the corn fritters are golden brown, scoop them out and place them in a sieve to drain away the oil. When the color looks all right, we can turn off the stove. Our Corn Fritters are ready.”

“Clear Vegetable Soup is a typical Indonesian dish that we normally eat with corn fritters and a bowl of rice. It’s time to cook the Vegetable Soup. I will cook it without sautéing. As we don’t use oil, it is better for our health. First, we heat the water, one liter of water. Turn on the stove, and wait for about three minutes. When the water comes to a boil, add the galangal. This galangal releases a fresh and delicious aroma. Add the pieces of cut sweet corn when the water returns to a rolling boil. The corn will soften in about three minutes. The sweet corn looks soft. Now let’s add in the chayote. The chayote and sweet corn have started to change color, so it’s time to add in the spices. Finally, we put in the spinach, which softens very easily. Now we ladle it into a bowl. Our Clear Vegetable Soup is ready.”