Soto ayam is a chicken spicy-aromatic soup. This is the perfect soup for food lover’s looking for the true taste of Java and Suriname.
This is more of a complete meal than just a soup as it is served with lots of extras
Soto soup is usually served with white cooked rice.
Ingredients:
Look for fresh and frozen herbs like laos (galangal),daun salam in Chinese and Southeast Asian markets.
2 to3 quarts water (1 quart=1/4 gallon)
8 big garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 chopped onions
3 tablespoon thinly sliced celery
4 grains pimento
1 piece of fresh ginger, 2-inches (5 centimeters) long, peeled and sliced
3 thick stalks fresh lemongrass (sereh), tied into a knot (Lemon grass has an intriguing, lemony perfume without the bite that lemons can add to a dish.)
6 dry whole daun salam leaves (aromatic young leaves which contain volatile oils are used, a few fresh leaves being simmered whole in Indonesian curries or soup).
1 piece of fresh or frozen laos (galangal), 2 inches long (5 centimeters), peeled and thinly sliced (it resembles the flavor of ginger but is more aromatic)
2 teaspoon freshly ground fine black pepper
Salt to taste
4 tablespoon of soya sauce (salt soy sauce) or sweet soya sauce (kecap manis)
5 chicken bouillon cubes (stock cube) to taste
15 oz. white vermicelli
Half a kilogramme of bean sprouts (Make sure that they’re 2 to 3 inches long, with small, bright yellow seedpods. Don’t mistakenly purchase soybean sprouts, which have larger seedpods and thicker shoots).
4-8 eggs
4 medium potatoes
Sambal
2 to 3 tablespoons of corn oil
White rice
Cooking Directions
Boil the water, add the chicken breast, laos, fresh ginger, pimento, black pepper, the
4 chopped garlic, 2 chopped onion, salam leaves, lemon grass, 2 tablespoon sliced celery, chicken bouillon cubes and than 4 tablespoon of soya sauce.
Cook this till the chicken breast is tender (30 minutes) and take this out of the bouillon.
Cook the rice as usually
Boil the eggs until hard (8-10 min.) and shell them.
Pull the roots of the bean sprouts out because it’s looks cleaner this way.
Peal the potatoes and slice them into the smallest pieces (just like French fried but thinner) and than fry it not to dark but crispy.
Cut the white vermicelli in pieces of 3 – 4 inches (with a scissor) and fry this it will be just like prawn crackers.
Cut the boiled chicken breast into small, bone-in serving pieces.
So-it’s time to sieve your bouillon and set aside.
Heat the oil in a wok and fry the rest of the sliced onion and garlic. When the garlic and onion are brown not to dark take them out and set aside.
Stir-fry the chicken breast (pieces) in the oil and when this is light brown, take it out.
Serve hot!
Put the soup- bowls on the table and add in each bowl:
1 or 2 tablespoon of cooked white rice,
1 boiled egg
some bean sprouts,
fried chopped chicken breast,
the mixed fried onion and garlic
the fried potatoes and white vermicelli
and garnish it with sliced celery
At last ladle the boiling soup into the bowls, start to eat the soto and if you like, you can add salt, soya sauce and don’t forget the sambal.
Eat at once. The bean sprouts will become limp and watery if allowed to sit longer than 10 minutes.
Enjoy!