OK, it’s official, I am in looooooooove with Indonesian food.
Since discovering the taste of real Indonesian food at Java Spice in Rowland Heights, I have had no less than 5 Indonesian meals (eat-in, take-out, and home cooking included) in the last two weeks: dishes such as Ayam Kalasan, Soto Ayam, Gado-Gado, Nasi Goreng, and Sate.
This is not my first mad cuisine crush. I will spend an obsessive amount of time researching a new (to me) cuisine when I fall in love with it. I have been similarly smitten with Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Sichuan cuisines. So yes, I became a food stalker and searched everywhere for Indonesian recipes, food pictures, blogs, restaurants, and cookbooks.
It was like being back at school and Indonesian food was my graduate course. I burned the midnight oil for an Indonesian Food exam. I went to local libraries, Borders, Barnes & Noble’s religiously and holed up in the ethnic cookbooks section reading and ogling beautiful Indonesian cookbooks (unfortunately, there are only a handful of them!). I just have to cook Indonesian food in my kitchen, with my own hands, to satisfy and get over my current obsessive-compulsive behavior…
And before the restraining order goes into effect.
Finally I got myself the long list of ingredients and spent hours cooking up the following Soto Ayam.
I am never a huge fan of Soto Ayam in Malaysia but the Indonesian version of Soto Ayam won me over. To kick up the flavor of the traditional Soto Ayam, this variation is infused with coconut milk and more spices. In Indonesia , this dish is called Soto Resah. It tasted very good and my native Malaysian palate favors this more complex and richer rendition.
Ingredients:
1/2 chicken breast meat, skinless and deboned (cut into small cubes)
1 stalk of lemon grass (cut into 3 strips)
1 can of coconut milk
1 can of chicken broth
1 glass of water
Spice Paste:
1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
4 shallots (chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 pieces of turmeric (peeled and chopped) or 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder
2-inch piece of galangal (peeled and sliced)
2-inch piece of ginger (peeled and sliced)
1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice
Other ingredients:
2 cups of sliced cabbages
2 cups of bean sprouts
1/2 pack of vermicelli or 1 small package of glass noodles
2 limes, cut into wedges
2 hard-boiled eggs (cut into wedges)
1 stalk of spring onion (chopped)
Method:
Blend the spice paste in a food processor. Add some water if needed. Pour some oil in a pot and add in the spice paste. Stir the spice paste and wait for it to turn light brown. Add in chicken broth, coconut milk, lemon grass strips, and water. Once the broth starts boiling, add in chicken breast cubes. Cover the pot and lower the heat and simmer for 30 – 40 minutes. Add salt to taste.
Blanch beansprouts, pre-soaked vermicelli / glass noddles, cabbages in another pot of boiling water and transfer them into a bowl once they are cooked. Add in toppings of hard-boiled eggs, chopped spring onions and pour the hot chicken broth into the bowl. Serve hot with lime wedges.
Related Posts:
- Soto Ayam Recipe
- Indonesian Sate (Sate Babi and Sate Ayam Bumbu Kecap/Kacang)
- Nasi Goreng Recipe (Indonesian Fried Rice)
- Tom Kha Gai Recipe (Thai Coconut Chicken Soup)
- Sate Lilit Bali Recipe
Get new recipes via RSS and reader or subscribe via email
{ 1 trackback }
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
You are right, I don’t like the soto ayam in Malaysia either, but your version looks good.
Frances
Reply
I know exactly what you mean. I do the same thing. My fiancee usually rolls her eyes and tries to keep the cookbook/gear/ingredients spending from getting out of hand whenever a new phase hits me.
Tasty looking dish.
- Chubbypanda
Reply
Ah! dangerous territory … I can easily get sucked into that ‘obsessive-compulsive behaviour’ of yours … since I know I have almost the same tastebuds. Hmmm! you are making my drool …. with that recipe!
Reply
We don’t go to our extreme, doing research in the libraries!
When I balik kampung to Malaysia, my mum and I, we will go makan and try to figure out what was put inside. If we dont get it, the next day we balik to taste it again until we find out what was inside. haha…
Reply
Chubbypanda – yes, there is this “I have a crush on xxx” phase and all I want to eat and learn is that cuisine.
Audrey Cooks – This Soto Ayam is good; not like those Soto Ayam we get in Malaysia. It tastes like curry laksa without the pig’s blood, cockles, etc. but MUCH lighter and very pleasing.
Keropok Man – I do that too, that is, going back to the stall / restaurant again to decode the ingredients, but sometimes, it’s very hard especially when there are spices involved. So I have to reply on research, cookbooks, and libraries. ;)
Reply
Stumbled upon your blog on the Malaysia Bloggers Forum… The Food looks great!
Reply
i don’t think i’ve ever tried this dish before. indonesian food is not really big here. although it looks really good. making me hungry now…
Reply
Hi,
I notice that the recipe uses a can of coconut milk .. how much of ml is that ?
Sorry i’m a new cook :(
Reply
Ana – Welcome to Rasa Malaysia. Yeah, I guess it’s hard to find Indonesian food in the Philippines. Try the recipe, you will like it. ;)
Anonymous – I used the regular size canned coconut milk, which is 13.5 fl oz or 400 ml.
Reply
Now you’re talkin’! It makes me smile when someone like you says:
“OK, it’s official, I am in looooooooove with Indonesian food.”
…especially when you talk about my favorite dish of all time, Soto Ayam. So far no restaurant has come close to my mom’s version, but Java Spice sounds awesome.
Hey, since I know you are keen on trying more Indonesian food and you like hawker Food, did you know there is a Indonesian Food Street Faire that happens every Saturday in Duarte?
I posted about it here. I think you’ll love it!!
Reply
Elmo,
Thanks! Yes, I am not shy to declare that I am addicted to your home cuisine. BTW, it totally rocks.
:)
I will check out your links.
Reply
Your post remind me of my hometown Soto Ayam. Yummmy. Since I’ve been in Canada, I’m used to make it from the instant seasoning, coz I’m lazy.
Have you evertried to combine soto ayam with rice porridge? It’s so good. You can see my recipe at http://evimeinar.multiply.com/recipes/item/185
Reply
hi rasa malaysia,
i haven’t tasted indonesia’s soto ayam, but you’ve gotta try my sister’s. it’s the malaysian version, but it’s damn good, i promise you.
i’ll just run through the recipe, i don’t know if i can give a detailed version of it. but the primary ingredient that you must have is the sup bunjut thingy, i’m sure you’re familiar with it. when i think of sup bunjut, to me, it’s to us malays what the bouquet garni is to the english. sup bunjut is normally used to make malay chicken soup.
anyway, before i deviate, here’s the recipe.
for the chicken soup:
chicken (on the bone for extra flavour)
1 small bag of sup bunjut.
cloves.
star anise.
cinnamon bark.
biji limau (i don’t know what it is in english, sorry!)
onion.
garlic.
ginger.
cooking oil.
condiments:
spring onions.
coriander (only a small amount).
bawang goreng or fried shallots.
bean sprouts.
kicap manis or kicap masin, don’t matter to me.
birds eye chilli.
main accompaniment:
nasi impit OR
bihun (rice vermicelli)
methods:
firstly, “tumis” all the onions, garlic, ginger, sup bunjut, star anise, cloves, cinnamon and biji limau until it becomes aromatic (or as the malays put it, sampai bau naik..).
then add the chicken and water.
boil the chicken soup until the chiken is tender.
then “fish out” the chiken, let it cool, then shred the chicken meat off the bones, and discard the bones. arrange the chicken meat aesthetically in a serving dish.
prepare the nasi impit or bihun or both!
again, present the bawang goreng, spring onions, coriander, and bean sprouts aesthetically in a serving dish.
then, prepare the kicap pedas by chopping up the birds eye chilli, and mixing it with the soy sauce in a bowl. you don’t need to prepare a huge amount of this.
and voila! that’s my sister’s soto ayam, which i recently presented to my mat salleh friends the other day. try it!
p.s. me and my sister when we decide to blow our diet on soto, we never forget to make begedil daging, or meat balls. my sister actually puts the begedils in the soto when she eats it, but because i remember eating my begedils just like they are when i was a little kid (my grandma used to make the best begedil), i still eat them separately. apparently, begedil is the traditional accompaniment to soto. i wasn’t aware of this until my sister told me.
anyways, i could slip you my recipe for begedil daging, but my fingers are tired!
man i really really love your food blog.
Reply
in the methods, remember to conserve the chicken soup after fishing out the chicken!!
and, i seem to have missed out one thing. probably the most important one!
HOW TO EAT this soto (hehehe):
place your nasi impit or bihun in a bowl.
put the shredded chicken in, and all the other condiments as you please.
then flood in the chicken soup (as you can see, the chicken soup acts like a stock).
you can eat it just like that, but if you want it to be pedas, put some of the kicap pedas into your bowl. this will make the broth more dark, but it will still look very appealing. more importantly, the soto is now pedas and the flavour more accentuated.
enjoy!
Reply
I often had that soto ayam when I was a child (my grandparents are Indonesian), my grandma used to do it with thin fried potatoes (without noodles, of course)… absolutely gorgeous… The mere thought of it makes me wanna cry!!
:-)
Reply
Very nice ! :)
Indonesian sate ayam is one of many great and tasty Indonesian soto .
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I have tried the soya chicken and its so good
Keep on posting
Jossika
Reply
Hi, Tks for this lovely recipe. will try one day. Cheers
Reply
Hi, im indonesian but i like malaysian food, i love assam fish and kangkong belacan!
Reply
hi!…was looking for a recipe which is not spicy for my kids because they love bee hoon and came across this one. INstead of the coconut milk, wold substituting it with evaporated milk do? And if i didnt use chicken broth,what can i substitute it with? or can i do without it?
Thanks!
ina (in USA and missing Malay food very much!)
Reply
Your soto isn’t a proper soto. A true soto doesn’t have noodles, there is no paste, the chicken is pulled, you cook the chicken by slowly simmering it in water mixed with items like ginger, and you add completely different items. You add hard boiled eggs (in thin slices), sliced celery, chopped green onions, lemon juice, Bali Katsup, and baked potatoes cut in slices. I don’t know where you got the recipe, but it isn’t a traditional indonesian dish. I am indonesian and we have this dish all the time and it doesn’t look like yours.
Reply
Hei hei hei … just leave her be. I am Indonesian too, but I appreciate her recipe adding this and that. We are not talking about the most authentic food here. I cook my Soto Ayam with cut chicken like her, my egg is also cut as thick as hers. Heck we even have Indomie Soto Mie – so let her do her creation. I just found your blog like 5 minutes ago and I love it. I’m gonna try this recipe when I get back.
Reply
I was just fooling around your site when I found this entry. Can’t help laughing.
If possible, I would like to send our house cook your way. She can cook you hundreds of authentic indo food.
But after considering it, I will first document everything when I go home. Then you can read it at my site. LOL. Just kidding!
Reply
You had me at soto ayam. No joke. Im gonna try making this using your soto ayam recipe.
Reply
Soto Ayam is one of my fave dishes, also my hubby loves it! I cook it almost every week. But I like non-coconut milk version – which is Javanese Soto Ayam.
If you want to try, you can check the recipe in my site. I have also recipes from other Indonesian dishes as well.
Reply
Hi
I am Indonesian, i am living in England, last night i was thinking about cooking soto ayam because i have whole chicken in freezer but unfortunately i could not find the recipe..i love soto ayam as well and when i was in Indonesia i was bit lazy to learn how to cook it from my mum..(and now bit dissapointed) because my mum soto ayam is the best ever (of course because i am her daughter :-) ) since i moved to England i am not different like you, hunting my native receipes and ingredients. it was not much luck but i manage to find a big south east asian supermarket in one of biggest town in England i.e. Birmingham..
I dont care about how different is the recipe from my mum original soto ayam as long as i can still taste Indonesian ingredients there i am such a happy bunny….
Thank you so much…xxxxx
Yunia
Reply
Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yunia – soto ayam can be such comfort food. Thank you for trying the recipe and keep on cooking.
Reply
my mother sells soto malaysia..
Reply
hey .. good job on ur recipe and the blog .. but i wanted to ask about the servings of the soto ayam (serves ??ppl)
thanks :)
Reply
Rasa Malaysia replied:
Well, it serves 4 people.
Reply
Well, just go to Indo & order it, Indonesian food is best served & enjoyed in Indonesia ^^
Reply
I have recently followed yr blog. Spore Soto Ayam is also fabulous compared to the bland Msian soto which technically is what we call Sop ayam. The recipe is similar to yours but we add some buah keras n blend green chillis into the sauce.
Try it. The recipe for the sop soto was given by a Spore Malay which i find to be authentique
Reply