Serving the Guest: A Sufi Cookbook
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Sayur Bayem
Indonesian Spinach Soup with Corn
Spinach
Total time: 45 minutes
½ cup thinly sliced onions
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 green chili pepper, halved and seeded
¼ tsp. ground ginger
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. salt
6 cups water or stock
2 lbs. rinsed and chopped spinach
2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels

In a large soup pot, combine the onions, garlic, chili, ground ginger, ginger, bay leaves, salt, and water or stock. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the corn, then the spinach. Cover the pot and cook for a minute, until the spinach wilts, then stir to combine. Continue cooking for another 8 minutes or so, until the spinach is tender and the flavors are combined. Adjust the seasonings, remove the bay leaves and serve hot.

If corn is unavailable, you may substitute with 4 cups of peeled, cubed sweet potatoes, adding them at the beginning so that they will cook all the way through.