
Sayur Urab is an extremely popular Indonesian dish, and something I made in my Bali Farm Cooking Class. Overall I quite liked this class, especially since we made 7 recipes. Most classes I would take only do 2-3 dishes so this was quite nice. I quite liked making Sayur Urab, but Alona really liked the leftovers I brought back home after the class.
All sayur urab is, is a bunch of boiled fresh vegetables, which after cooling slightly are tossed in a fried seasoning mixture. The end result, well, it’s kind of a limp veggie salad, but that doesn’t sound appetizing at all. In fact, this dish is really tasty. It is full of strong well-balanced flavors.
Sayur Urab Ingredients
Hard Vegetables (125 grams total, you can choose how much of each you want)
- Long Beans
- Carrots
- Green Beans
Soft Vegetables (125 grams total, you can choose how much of each you want)
- Spinach
- Bean Sprouts
- Cabbage
Also
- 1 cup Coconut; freshly grated. If you can’t freshly grate it then you can order it already shredded online. I would add about a tbsp of water to moisten it up again.
- 2 Kaffir Lime Leaves; chopped
- 1 tsp Kaffir Lime Juice; can substitute regular lime juice.
Fried Seasoning
- 7 small Shallots; thinly sliced
- 5 cloves Garlic; thinly sliced
- 3 Long Red Chili; or substitute 1/2 red capsicum
- 1/4 tsp Shrimp Paste; or can sub 1 tbsp Fish Sauce. You can buy it online here
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp White Pepper
- 3 tbsp Coconut Oil
Sayur Urab Instructions
- Julienne all the vegetables.
- Boil a pot of water. When bubbling add the hard vegetables for 2 minutes, and then add the soft vegetables. In total you will boil for 5 minutes. Then remove the vegetables from the water and set on a strainer over the sink.

- Heat the coconut oil on a pan on medium. Then fry the shallot and garlic until slightly brown. Add the long red chilies and stir until everything is almost crispy. Add the shrimp paste and stir until mixed, then add salt and white pepper. Turn off the heat and keep stirring everything until well mixed.

- Into a large bowl add the grated coconut, then add all the fried ingredients from the pan (oil and all).
- Add the kaffir lime leaves and the kaffir lime juice and stir everything up.
- Add the cooked vegetables into the mixture. Using your hands mix and slightly squeeze the mixture until the liquid comes out. Remix the liquid back in, and then squeeze it out again. Repeat 5 times.
- Now the sayur urab is ready to be served warm, or you can put it in the fridge and serve it cold.
Notes
Sayur Urab is best served soon after making it. It will hold in the fridge for a day or two, but it isn’t a dish you should make days in advance of serving.
You Might Like:
- Bumbu Bali
- Sayur Urab (Coconut & Vegetable Salad)
- Sweet Sour Tempeh
- Tuna Sambal Matah
- Bali Sate Lilit (Satay)
- Opor Ayam (Balinese Chicken Curry)

Sayur Urab
Ingredients
Hard Vegetables
- 125 grams Mixed Hard Vegetables carrots, long beans, green beans
Soft Vegetables
- 125 grams Mixed Soft Vegetables Spinach, Cabbage, bean sprouts
The Rest
- 1 cup Coconut freshly grated
- 2 Kaffir Lime Leaves chopped
- 1 tsp Kaffir Lime Juice can sub regular lime juice
Fried Seasoning
- 7 small Shallots thinly sliced
- 5 cloves Garlic thinly sliced
- 3 Long Red Chilies thinly sliced; can sub 1/2 red capsicum
- 1/4 tsp Shrimp Paste
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp White Pepper
- 3 tbsp Coconut Oil
Instructions
- Julienne all the vegetables
- Boil a pot of water. When bubbling add the hard vegetables for 2 minutes, and then add the soft vegetables. In total you will boil for 5 minutes. Then remove the vegetables from the water and set on a strainer over the sink.
- Heat the coconut oil on a pan on medium. Then fry the shallot and garlic until slightly brown. Add the long red chilies and stir until everything is almost crispy. Add the shrimp paste and stir until mixed, then add salt and white pepper. Turn off the heat and keep stirring everything until well mixed.
- Into a large bowl add the grated coconut, then add all the fried ingredients from the pan (oil and all).
- Add the kaffir lime leaves and kaffir lime juice and stir.
- Add the cooked vegetables into the mixture. Using your hands mix and slightly squeeze the mixture until the liquid comes out. Remix the liquid back in, and then squeeze it out again. Repeat 5 times.