Soto Betawi (Betawi Beef Soup)

  • 14/07/2019
  • by Melvin Widodo

Soto Betawi is a traditional Indonesian beef soup hailing from Jakarta, featuring tender beef, offal, and coconut milk in a fragrant broth. Enhanced with a blend of local spices, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves, it offers a rich and savoury flavour. Served with rice and garnished with fried shallots and lime, Soto Betawi is a beloved comfort dish, capturing the essence of Betawi cuisine with its unique and hearty taste.


Ingredients
  • 1 kg beef round cuts for stew, (may combines beef tendon and tribes), diced (2 x 2 cm)
  • 3 cm cinnamon stick
  • 3 cm ginger, smashed
  • 4 cm galangal, smashed
  • 5 kaffir lime
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 liter water
  • 2 liter vaporated or almond or coconut milk
    • Note: use almond for healthy options

Spice Paste (ground this ingredients)

  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 5 candlenuts
  • ½ tablespoon salt
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 8 cloves shallot, minced
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp nutmeg

Condiments

  • 4 tomatoes, sliced or diced
  • 2 potatoes, diced and fried, or wedges
  • Fried shallots
  • Spring Onion, copped
  • Coriander leaves

Optional Condiments

  • Lime Juice
  • Fresh Chillies (sliced)
  • Sweet Soy Sauce
  • Bitternuts cracker

Steps
  1. Preheat oil in a deep pot, add cinnamon, gingger, galanggal and kaffir lime, and stir around half minute
  2. Add spice paste ingredients, and stir until fargrant.
  3. Add beef and keep stiring until the meat change colour.
  4. Add water and boil around one and half hour on medium heat.
  5. Add milk (vaporated / almond / coconut) keep stirring slowly until simmer for around 5 minutes.
  6. Turn off the heat, and Soto Betawi is ready to be served.

Serving

  1. Pour soto into a bowl
  2. Add or decorate the condiments ingredients on top of the soup
  3. May add optional condiments based on preferences
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