Indonesian Chicken Soup - Soto Ayam

4 cups broth from the soup

½ cup shredded chicken from the chicken while make the soup

4 tablespoons shredded cabbage, blanched

4 tablespoons bean sprouts, blanched

2 boiled egg, cut segments

½ tomato cut into cube and blanched

½ potato, boiled then fried and cut into small cubes

About the image above: Indonesian Chicken Soup – Soto Ayam

½ cup blanched glass noodles

2 tablespoons sliced celery leaves

16-20 pieces potato chips

3 tablespoons foya powder

1 tablespoons fried shallot

To add while cooking

6 pieces lemongrass (white part only about 2 centimeters each)

4-6 pieces fresh kaffir lime leaves

2 pieces salam leaves

2-3 teaspoon lime juice

salt to taste

sugar to taste

5-7 cups chicken stock

½ chicken with skin, clean

For the paste

½ cup shallot, clean and sliced

1/3 cup garlic, clean

1/6 cup sliced galangal

1/5 cup sliced turmeric

1/3 cup candlenut, roasted

1 piece green chili

oil to sauté

Foya powder

1 tablespoon fried garlic

3 tablespoons cracked fried prawns crackers

For the paste: sauté the ingredients to fragrant smell and keep aside. Allowing cooling then turning to a paste in a blender bowl. Sauté again one more time to make sure the paste is cooked. In this stage, the paste we can keep for longer self live. Keep out from the heat and cool it down. Keep in a packet vacuum vac or keep in the freezer.

To cook the soto: sauté the paste until really fragrant and add the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and stock and chicken. Cook it properly at simmering point for at least 1½ hours. Check the seasonings and strain it. Keep warm if you wish to serve immediately.

For the foya powder: combine both ingredients in a blender or mortar to turn to smooth powder. Keep aside for the garnish.

To assemble and serve: place the garnish in a soup bowl and pour the broth. Topped the soup with the potato crackers and foya powder. Garnish with sliced celery leaves and soup stick. Makes 4 servings. h

Helpful hints: in Indonesia where this soup is so popular or more can find in the street food, actually the soup is a meal by itself. Peoples eat the soup for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

If you wish to prepare it by yourself; may you need to do a shopping list to Asian grocery store or if you are in South East Asia you will get an advantage of your area. Most of the ingredients are easy to find and identify. Make a list, and go to local market and just go around you will find this bits and pieces. Or even now you can find in ready packages of this famous soup paste, you then just add water or stock, lime leaves, lemongrass, salam leaves, lime juices and of course some chicken meat, foya powder and fried shallot. Sometime also you can combine with steamed rice or boiled rice in banana leaf (called longing) as a meal for the day. May also accompany with some samba if you like it a bit spicy.