68. Soto Ayam

• March
• 7

7:03 am Bird of a kind, Dinner, Home Cooking, Lunch Time, One pot dinner, Pasta/Noodles

The first time I ever heard and tasted soto ayam must be around 1997. I was in school, away from home, not really homesick, but wanted to eat home cooked dish.
Dish that really reminds me of home, that is.
And a pal, Win, cooked this. And I was hooked, since I love anything soupy and noodles. She taught me how to make it, and I had been coming back to this recipe ever since.
Of course I adjust it here and there since I don’t really remember all that Win taught me heh….

SOTO AYAM

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 kg chicken pieces (I usually used 1 kg of chicken wings, plus 1/2 kg of other chicken pieces)
• Enough water to cover the chicken
• 2 TB salt
• Cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 3 star anise
• 2 TB coriander powder
• 4 TB kurma powder
• 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

Ground finely

• 3 shallots
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 inch ginger
• 1 inch galangal
• 10 candlenuts
• 2 stick lemongrass, trimmed
• 1 TB fennel seeds
• 1 TB cumin seeds

Method In a big pot, put the chicken, water, cinnamon stick, cloves and star anise, and salt. Turn the heat on high and let it come to a full boil. Then add the grounded ingredients, coriander and kurma powder, and cracked black pepper. At this point, more water could be added to dilute the soup to desired consistencies. Boil this cauldron for 2 to 2 1/2 hours until the beef falls off the bones, and oil rises/separates. Usually I would skim all these oils because it would be kinda yucky to eat noodle laden with oil like that. Some recipes call for sauteeing the grounded ingredients or whatnots, but I was taught by Win to dump everything in the pot like this, and I had been doing like such all these while. Don’t forget to adjust the seasoning. Turn the heat off. Take chicken out of the soup, and then shred it. Set aside.

BegedilIngredients 1 kg peeled and boiled potatoes, mashed 400g ground beef, fried with a pinch of salt, then drain 1/2 cup caramelized onion, or even regular fried onion 1/2 cup sliced spring onions 2 eggs, beaten slightly with salt and white pepper

Method Add ground beef, caramelized onion/fried onion, spring onions, and a dash of salt to the mashed potatoes. Mix a bit, then make into a golfball sized rounds. Flatten it a little bit to make begedil. Put into the fridge for about 30 minutes, then coat it with the eggs. Could either be shallow or deep fried. Just fry until the begedil turned dark golden color/caramel.

Note: Boiled mashed potatoes would give a slightly soft begedil. To get firmer begedil, use instead fried potatoes , then mashed it down.

Accompaniments : Blanched noodles Peanuts Sliced spring onions and coriander leaves Sliced chillies Sliced fried tofu Blended cili padi with soy sauce (add some lime juice to it, or I would usually use tamarind pulps) Cleaned beansprouts

To serve:

1. In a bowl, add some noodle, then add accompaniments on top. Add chillies and soy chili sauce as per required.
2. Reheat the soup, then pour some soup on top.
3. Enjoy!