Indonesian Beef Coconut Milk Soup (Soto Betawi)

Bonne année et bonne santé! Bien que ce soit une expression française, il n'y a jamais de moment plus propice pour des vœux de bonne santé dans le contexte de la crise sanitaire mondiale. 

Et même si je n'ai jamais vraiment cru aux résolutions du nouvel an (car elles ne sont pas durables et je crois que si on veut faire un changement, juste le faire au lieu d'attendre le début de l'année pour le faire), je voudrais encore me fixer des objectifs cette année (et non, j'ai longtemps abandonné d'essayer de perdre du poids, en regardant combien je mange tous les jours mdrrr). Je crois qu'avoir des objectifs m'aide à rester concentré, déterminé et discipliné.

Même si ce n'est que le début de janvier, et non la fin, je vous souhaite une très bonne année 2021, pleine de santé, d'amour, de projets, de rencontres et de belles surprises.

 

===========

 

So, after my shameless solicitation for bribes gifts of food, I was gifted with a rempah for soto betawi, a spice paste for a much beloved Jakarta beef soup. I decided I shan't attempt recreating the classic, I ain't Indonesian-enough to make it authentic. 

 

So, I set out to put my own spin on the traditional soup, and I'll be the first to acknowledge, this recipe is completely bastardised. Flavours have essentially stayed the same, but I've changed the ingredients around a little, infusing the recipe with Korean/Japanese elements, depending on what was available in my pantry. 

Chinese kailan, Japanese green tea somen, Korean kongnamul (or mung bean sprouts), and Italian Parma ham lardons make this a contemporary, but still scrumptious, keeper of a comforting dish.

 

Ingredients (feeds 4):

1 kg beef cubes

1 large onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

12 cherry tomatoes

1 packet Korean beansprouts

1 packet kailan

100gm Parma ham lardons, cut into 1cm cubes

1L veal stock

8 tbsp rempah (if you don't have an Indonesian friend to make the rempah for you, I've found the PT Bamboe range of spices very commendable)

90gm coconut milk

3-4 handfuls somen noodles

bawang goreng for garnishing 

canola oil (or any other oil with high smoke point)

Optional: salted eggs

 

 

Directions:

 

1) In a pre-heated pan with about 1 tbsp of canola oil, brown beef on high heat, salting liberally and taking care not to overcrowd the pan (u can do this in several batches). A quick sear on a couple of sides will suffice.

2) Set aside browned beef.

3) In a stewing pot, fry onions in about 1 tbsp oil on medium-high heat until translucent, about 3 minutes.

4) Lower fire to medium and add minced garlic, tossing through until fragrant, about 1 minute.

5) Add stock and rempah, stirring through till rempah dissolves.

6) Return beef to pot, bringing the stew to boil, before lowering to a simmer for the next 45-60 minutes for beef to be tender.

7) In the meantime, coat cherry tomatoes with a little olive oil and salt, and roast at 200C for about 10 minutes, or until tomatoes blister.

8) Fry Parma ham lardons until crispy. Drain and set aside, transferring the drippings to the stew pot for added flavour.

9) 10 minutes before serving, add kailan to the beef stew to cook through.

10) About 2 minutes before serving, add sprouts, these cook quickly, so a shorter time is sufficient.

11) Add somen, these cook in under a minute.

12) Switch off heat and add coconut milk to stir through.

13) Ladle up and serve with a sprinkle of crispy Parma ham and lashings of bawang goreng.

Variation: Soto Betawi Babi with Kale - this was a quick week day recipe, where I replaced stewing beef with kurobuta pork, sliced shabu shabu-style, and tossed in kinky kale.