Recipes with candlenuts

17 recipes that use candlenuts, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Sayur lodeh, takes 35 minutes. It is most often cooked with garlic, shallot and galangal.

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Sayur lodeh

Sayur lodeh is everyday cooking in Central Java, made in big pots in Solo and Semarang kitchens and ladled over rice, with lontong rice cakes at Lebaran, or alongside opor and sambal goreng on festive tables. It's soupy rather than thick: a fragrant broth of coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass and lime leaf that carries chunks of aubergine, long beans, chayote and sweetcorn, plus tempeh and tofu to make it a meal. The flavour is mellow and slightly sweet, so the heat comes from sambal on the side. Chef's tip: keep the pot at a gentle simmer once the coconut milk goes in and stir now and then — a rolling boil splits the coconut milk into oily curds.

35 minCurries

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Gudeg

Gudeg is the signature of Yogyakarta: whole streets around Wijilan are lined with stalls selling it from dawn, and visitors carry it home in clay pots or woven baskets. Unripe jackfruit is cooked for hours with palm sugar, coconut milk, galangal and salam leaves until it turns reddish-brown, soft as pulled meat, and deeply sweet and savoury. The classic plate adds chicken, egg and spicy cattle-skin stew; this vegan plate pairs it with sticky-sweet tempeh and tofu and a sharp sambal to cut the sweetness. Chef's tip: let the pot cook down slowly until almost all the liquid is gone — drier gudeg keeps for days and tastes better on the second.

240 minCurries

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Gulai nangka

In a nasi Padang restaurant, where dozens of dishes are stacked in the window and brought to the table on small plates, gulai nangka is the bright yellow one that gets spooned over rice to moisten everything else. Young jackfruit and long beans simmer in a thin, golden coconut sauce with turmeric, chilli and lemongrass until the jackfruit is tender and full of sauce. It's lighter and saucier than rendang and cooks in under an hour, so Padang households make it on ordinary weekdays. Chef's tip: stir the pot almost constantly for the first few minutes after the coconut milk goes in — Padang cooks say it keeps the gulai smooth and stops it splitting.

50 minCurries

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Vegetable lawar

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.

40 minSalads

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Sambal tumis

Ask any Malaysian cook what lives in the fridge door and the answer is usually a jar of sambal tumis. 'Tumis' means to sauté, and the paste of soaked dried chillies, shallots, garlic and spices is fried slowly in plenty of oil until it turns dark and jammy. From Johor to Kedah it goes on nasi lemak, gets stirred through fried rice and noodles, and is spooned beside eggs, tofu or roti. Most versions lean on belacan (shrimp paste); here a little toasted nori brings back that savoury, faintly sea-like depth. Chef's tip: make a double batch; covered with a film of its own oil it keeps for two weeks in the fridge and months in the freezer.

40 minChutneys & Dips

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Vegetable curry laksa

Curry laksa, or curry mee, is the coconut-rich laksa of Kuala Lumpur and the west coast, a hawker breakfast as often as a lunch, ladled from huge pots into bowls of noodles. The broth is a fried spice paste of chillies, lemongrass, galangal and candlenuts loosened with coconut milk, so it's spicy, creamy and fragrant at once. Stalls top it with chicken, cockles or prawns; ours is all vegetable: tofu puffs that soak up the soup like sponges, soft aubergine, long beans, crunchy bean sprouts and mint. Chef's tip: once the coconut milk goes in, keep it at a gentle simmer; a rolling boil splits it and leaves the broth greasy and grainy.

50 minSoups

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Lontong sayur

In Jakarta, lontong sayur is what the morning carts sell before offices open: firm slices of pressed rice sitting in a thin, golden coconut broth with chayote, long beans and squares of tofu and tempeh. Betawi families also cook a big pot of it for Lebaran morning. Street versions often add dried shrimp to the spice paste; this one keeps the flavour with candlenuts, galangal and salam leaf instead. Serve with sambal, fried shallots and crackers. Chef's tip: cook the lontong the day before and chill it overnight; cold rice cakes slice cleanly and soak up the broth without falling apart.

135 minBreakfast & Brunch

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Gulai daun singkong

No Padang restaurant in West Sumatra is complete without a dish of gulai daun singkong: dark cassava leaves simmered until silky in a yellow coconut gravy fragrant with lemongrass, turmeric leaf and galangal. It is the cooling green on a table of rich, fiery plates, ladled over rice with sambal hijau. Restaurants sometimes add dried anchovies; this version doesn't. Frozen cassava leaves from Asian shops work well; kale is the best stand-in. Chef's tip: squeeze the boiled leaves hard before adding them, or the gravy goes thin and grassy.

50 minCurries

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Soto ayam

From Lamongan to Semarang, Java's soto carts start ladling before the morning commute, and a bowl of soto ayam is how many people begin a working day. The broth is light but bright yellow with fresh turmeric, scented with lemongrass and lime leaf, and poured over slippery glass noodles, shredded chicken, crunchy bean sprouts and half a boiled egg. Squeeze in lime, stir in as much sambal as you dare and eat it with plain rice or rice cakes on the side. In East Java vendors finish it with koya, a sandy powder of prawn crackers and fried garlic that thickens the broth as you eat. Chef's tip: keep the pot at a lazy simmer the whole time; a hard boil turns the golden broth cloudy and greasy.

60 minSoups

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Ayam betutu

Drive through west Bali to the ferry port of Gilimanuk and the roadside warungs all sell the same thing: ayam betutu, chicken cooked so long in spice paste that it slumps off the bone into a fiery, turmeric-orange gravy. The paste is base genep, Bali's master seasoning of shallots, garlic, galangal, aromatic ginger, turmeric, chillies, candlenuts and shrimp paste, and it is rubbed inside and out before the bird braises gently in a covered pot. Expect deep heat, a little bitterness from the greens tucked inside and a rich, almost buttery sauce. Pile it on steamed rice with water spinach or a raw sambal matah to cut through. Chef's tip: braise it the day before; the paste mellows overnight and the chicken reheats beautifully.

180 minChicken

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Sate lilit

When a Balinese village gets ready for a temple festival, the men gather the night before to chop, pound and mix sate lilit, while the women prepare the offerings. 'Lilit' means to wrap: instead of threaded chunks, a soft mixture of minced fish, grated coconut and base genep spice paste is moulded around lemongrass stalks or flat bamboo sticks and grilled over coconut-husk embers. The result is tender and lightly springy inside, browned and smoky outside, with the lemongrass perfuming every bite. Eat them hot with rice, sambal matah and a wedge of lime. Chef's tip: knead the mixture firmly until it feels sticky and chill it before shaping, or it will slide off the sticks on the grill.

50 minFish

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Rawon

Nothing else on the table looks like rawon: a beef soup as dark as strong coffee, served in Surabaya from breakfast through to the late-night warungs that stay open after the football. Its colour and flavour come from keluak (kluwek), the fermented kernel of a tropical tree nut, which tastes earthy and faintly bitter, somewhere between black olive, cocoa and mushroom. Tender beef cubes swim in the broth, and it's served with rice, short crunchy bean sprouts, a salted duck egg and prawn crackers for crunch. Raw keluak contains a natural poison and is only safe after long processing, so always buy ready-prepared kluwek nuts from an Asian grocer. Chef's tip: crack one nut first and taste a crumb; good flesh is moist, black and smells chocolatey, while sour or dry, pale flesh should be thrown away.

120 minSoups

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Bebek betutu

For ceremonies in the villages around Gianyar in central Bali, a whole duck is stuffed and smothered with base genep, wrapped in banana leaves and areca-palm sheath, and buried overnight in smouldering rice husks. By morning the meat has turned meltingly soft, the fat has rendered into the spices and the parcel smells of turmeric, smoke and lime leaf. This home version keeps the stuffing and the leaf parcel but uses a low oven for three hours, then opens the parcel for a short blast to colour the skin. Serve it in its juices with rice, a sharp sambal matah and long beans or water spinach. Chef's tip: marinate the duck overnight in the fridge if you can; the paste needs time to get past the fat and into the meat.

240 minMeat

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Soto Betawi

Jakarta's original Betawi community gave the capital this rich, pale-gold soup, and on a Sunday the soto Betawi stalls along the city's side streets are packed with families. Beef brisket (and, for many, tripe) simmers until tender, then goes into a gently spiced broth made creamy with coconut milk and a splash of fresh milk, scented with lemongrass, cinnamon and cloves. Each bowl is loaded with fried potato, raw tomato and spring onion and comes with rice, lime, sambal and bitter-crisp emping crackers. It's comforting and mellow rather than fiery. Chef's tip: for a dairy-free bowl, swap the milk for more coconut milk; the soup will be a little heavier but just as good.

90 minSoups

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Papeda with ikan kuah kuning

In Ambon, Jayapura and the islands between, the everyday staple isn't rice but papeda: sago starch stirred with boiling water into a translucent, glue-like porridge. It has almost no taste of its own, which is the point; it's eaten with ikan kuah kuning, a sharp, yellow fish soup bright with turmeric, lime and lemon basil. Families twirl the papeda out of the pot on two sticks, drop it into a bowl and ladle the soup over, then slurp it down without chewing. The texture is surprising the first time: slippery, soft and soothing next to the hot, sour broth. Chef's tip: the water must be at a full rolling boil when it hits the sago, or the papeda stays white and lumpy instead of turning clear.

60 minFish

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Otak-otak

Drive through Muar in Johor and you will see roadside grills stacked with slim green parcels, sold by the dozen in paper bags for the journey home. Inside each is a soft, bright-orange custard of pounded mackerel, coconut milk and egg, flavoured with a chilli-lemongrass rempah and kaffir lime leaf, which turns smoky and slightly charred at the edges from the grill. Melaka's Nyonya cooks make a fatter, steamed version, but this one is grilled in banana leaf. Eat it warm, peeled straight out of the leaf, with white bread, rice or nasi lemak. Chef's tip: chill the fish mixture for 15 minutes before wrapping; it firms up and is far easier to spoon onto the leaves.

50 minFish

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Sarawak laksa

Kuching wakes up to laksa Sarawak, ordered at coffee shops before work and reaching its peak on a lazy Sunday morning. It looks nothing like curry laksa: the broth is a russet, gently creamy soup built on a complex paste of chillies, shallots, galangal, toasted sesame, peanuts and warm whole spices, cooked into a chicken and prawn-shell stock with tamarind and a little coconut milk. Thin rice vermicelli is topped with shredded chicken, whole prawns, ribbons of omelette and bean sprouts, and every bowl comes with lime and a dab of sambal belacan. The work is in the paste, which keeps well and makes several batches. Chef's tip: toast the spices, sesame seeds and peanuts separately in a dry pan before grinding; it gives the broth its deep, roasted aroma.

90 minSoups

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Goes well with candlenuts