urap — East Java, Indonesia

Urap, sometimes called urab or, in the plural, urap-urap, is a Javanese salad of cooked vegetables bound together with seasoned grated coconut instead of a liquid dressing. It sits somewhere between a salad and a side dish, eaten warm or at room temperature. This version is associated with East Java, within the wider Javanese culinary tradition; a related preparation called urab sayur is reported from Bali. Urap appears both as a standalone vegetarian dish and as an accompaniment to rice and other dishes. Each vegetable — commonly long beans, spinach or water spinach, bean sprouts, shredded cabbage and carrot — is blanched separately so it keeps its own texture and color, then drained well. A paste of garlic, chili, aromatic kencur root, kaffir lime leaf, palm sugar and toasted shrimp paste is mixed into fresh grated coconut and briefly steamed to release its aroma. The vegetables are tossed with the warm coconut only just before serving, so they stay crisp. What marks urap out among Indonesian vegetable dishes is that the coconut itself carries the seasoning, rather than a separate sauce being poured over the vegetables. The exact mix of vegetables and the balance of chili, sugar and shrimp paste vary from cook to cook and from region to region, which is part of why so many households keep their own version.