Lontong

One of my fav. I believe it originated from the javanese, but I'm not so sure.
Lontong

Ingredients
5 tbsps oil
80ml basic rempah
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 lemongrass, bruised
1 litre water
300ml coconut milk
Salt to taste
100g tempeh of fermented soy cake,cut into 4cm strips
1 small handful tanghoon,soaked till soft and drained
6 long beans, cut into 4cm lengths
200g cabbage,thickly sliced
2 red chilli, cut into strips
1 nasi himpit or a few cube of ketupat cut into smaller cubes

Steps
1.Heat oil in pan and stir fry rempah and ground cumin over low fire until fragrant
2.Add lemongrass, cook for 2 minutes then add water.
3.Bring to a boil, then simmer for 3 minutes.
4.Add coconut milk and salt.
5.Bring mixture to a boil once again, however, stir it constantly, to avoid the coconut milk from curdling.
6.Add tempeh, tau kwa and carrot, cok for a few minutes until the carrots are soft a bit then add tang hoon, long beans, 7.cabbage and chilli.
8.Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
9.Serve hot with ketupat or nasi himpit.

Variation : stir fry dried shrimps with the rempah. Not advisable if you have sinus though. So the version above is suitable for people who have sinus.

Tips :
Nasi himpit - compressed riced, there are two ways to prepare it. Either you cook the rice than put it into a baking pan and press with big spatula, after the rice is compressed, cut into small cubes. The easier way is to fill small plastic bag (make small holes in it with nails or needles) with three quater of rice then seal the end, boil in hot water.

Nowadays, most people just buy a pack of ready made nasi himpit from the nearby market and boil it hot water, much much simpler.

Ketupat - small cube made with coconut leaves then fill half each with rice, boil in hot water. Ketupat has a nice fragrance to it thanks to the coconut leave.

Ketupat pulut - most popular with people in northern peninsular of Malaysia, made with beras pulut, however are eaten with rendang instead of lontong gravy.

Basic rempah - is made of 70g dried chillies,400g sliced shallots,130g sliced garlic,100g sliced ginger,100g sliced lengkuas,50g turmeric root,100g sliced lemongrass,30g chopped buah keras. Pack in separate 100ml bags to keep freshness.