Soto ayam

Ingredients

• Chicken — whole1.4 kg
• Shallots8
• Garlic6 clove
• Fresh turmeric30 g
• Ginger30 g
• Candlenuts or macadamia4
• Lemongrass3
• Kaffir lime leaves6
• Glass noodles150 g
• Eggs — boiled5
• Bean sprouts200 g
• Cabbage200 g
• Limes3
• Vegetable oil100 ml
• Saltto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Simmer the chicken in two litres of water for forty minutes, skimming for the first ten.

   45 min

2. 2

   Slice half the shallots into thin rings, deep-fry them crisp and drain them on paper.

   12 min

3. 3

   Pound the remaining shallot, garlic, turmeric, ginger and nuts into a bumbu paste.

   12 min

4. 4

   Fry the paste in oil for five minutes with the bruised lemongrass and lime leaves.

   7 min

5. 5

   Transfer the paste into the broth, season and simmer twenty minutes.

   22 min

6. 6

   Lift out the chicken and shred it, soak the noodles and blanch the sprouts and cabbage.

   15 min

7. 7

   Divide the noodles, chicken, vegetables and half an egg between bowls, ladle over the broth and top with fried shallot.

   8 min

About the dish

The base is bumbu, a paste of shallot, garlic, turmeric, ginger and candlenuts. It is fried in oil until the aroma opens and only then met with broth.

The broth has to stay clear. The chicken simmers at a bare tremble and is skimmed for the first ten minutes — a cloudy soto reads as carelessness in Indonesia.

The fried shallot goes into the bowl at the last moment. It is the only crisp element in the dish and softens in the broth within a minute.

Worth knowing

• — Fresh turmeric stains hands and boards for days. Wear gloves and use a glass or plastic board.
• — Fry the paste until oil starts separating at the edges. An underfried bumbu leaves the broth tasting raw.
• — Sambal is served separately. Soto is not a hot dish in itself, and each person sets their own heat.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

560 kcal

Protein

44 g

Fat

24 g

Carbs

42 g

More from Indonesia

• Nasi goreng — Fried rice with a chilli and shrimp-paste base, sweet soy sauce and an egg on top.
• Rendang — Beef simmered in coconut milk for four hours, until the milk turns to oil and starts frying the meat.
• Sate ayam — Chicken skewers over coals with a thick peanut sauce and sweet kecap manis.