Indonesian recipe
How to make Soto ayam
Java, with many regional versions across Indonesia
A fragrant yellow chicken soup coloured with turmeric and flavoured with lemongrass, ginger and lime leaves, served with shredded chicken, rice noodles, bean sprouts, boiled egg and fried shallots. Almost every region has its own soto, some clear, some with coconut milk.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken legs (about 1 kg)
- 2 litres water
- For the paste: 5 shallots, 3 cloves garlic, 3 cm fresh turmeric (or 1 teaspoon ground), 3 cm ginger, 3 candlenuts or macadamia nuts, 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 stalks lemongrass, bruised, 4 makrut (kaffir) lime leaves and 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon oil and salt to taste
- 150 g rice vermicelli, soaked in hot water
- 150 g bean sprouts, 4 hard-boiled eggs, crispy fried shallots, celery leaves and lime wedges to serve
Method
- Put the chicken in a large pot with the water, bring to the boil, skim off the foam and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile blend the paste ingredients until smooth and fry the paste in the oil for 3 to 4 minutes, until fragrant.
- Add the paste, lemongrass and leaves to the pot and simmer for 30 minutes more, until the chicken is cooked through and tender. Season with salt.
- Lift out the chicken, remove the skin and bones and shred the meat.
- Put noodles, bean sprouts (blanched for 1 minute in boiling water), chicken and half an egg in each bowl, ladle the hot soup over and top with fried shallots and celery leaves. Serve with lime and sambal. For older people, pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weak immune system, cook the bean sprouts until steaming hot or leave them out.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
One theory says soto grew from a Chinese tripe soup, caudo, sold in Semarang in the 1600s; others think it is a mix of Chinese, Indian and local cooking.
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