Soto Kedu

It feels like spring today in the Netherlands: the sun is warm, but the occasional cumulus clouds cools the air again. It’s still not warm enough to be outside too long. The perfect day for soup and lamb. Beb knows what to do. I will make her soto Kedu from her book. A recipe from central Java. This Indonesian soup is made with the broth of lamb and tempeh (fermented soy beans). It sounds delicious.

It takes about 45 minutes to make and this amount is definitely enough for three people.

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Soto Kedoe #135 from Beb Vuyk Groot Indonesisch kookboek, page 138.

Ingredients

• 1/4 kg of lamb
• 1/4 cabbage cut into thin strands
• 1/4 kg bean sprouts
• 1/4 slice of tempeh, cut into small cubes
• 1 large tomato

Herbs

• 3 tablespoons of chopped onions
• 2 chopped cloves of garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander (ketumbar)
• 1 teaspoon galangal (laos)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon of Javanese sugar
• 2 salam leaves (Asian bay leaves)
• pepper
• salt

1. Cut the meat into cubes and put it with some salt in about 1 liter of boiling water.
2. Rub onions with the garlic, coriander, galangal, ginger and sugar together into a paste.
3. Add this mixture to the broth.
4. Add the tempeh after about half an hour simmering.
5. When the meat is done, add the cabbage and sliced tomato and cleaned bean sprouts.
6. Finish your soto with salt and pepper.

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The photo shows all the ingredients except the bean sprouts. My mother in law comes over for dinner and brings the bean sprouts I forgot to buy. Terima kasih! It’s alright, because the bean sprouts need to go in at the end. I use pointy cabbage, but I think you can use any cabbage, except red cabbage.

I start with a broth. I have bought lovely tender lamb. Salam leaves are Asian bay leaves. If you cannot get salam, just add regular bay leave.

I grind my ingredients in to a paste in cobek or mortar. All the herbs go in except for the salam leaves. Meanwhile I simmer the lamb in a liter of water.  Because my meat is already tender it does not need long. I total I simmer it for about 30 minutes.

I add my meat into boiling water and bring it back to the boil again. I add the herb paste immediately, when it start bubbling.

I let this simmer for about 15 minutes. Now I add the tempeh. ‘Tempeh is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form’ (wiki). I buy it at my specialist Asian shop. In Holland, those stores are called ‘Toko’.

The cabbage and tomato can go in right after the tempeh. I leave this to simmer for 10 minutes and check if the meat is tender. If it is the salt and pepper can go through. I definitely use 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 full teaspoon of pepper. Maybe you like it saltier. It is a soup, so it should definitely be salty.

We eat the soto Kedu with lots of emping (fried Asian nut chips) it. This soto is really delicious. The meat is very tender and the lamb gives the broth that special lamb/mutton smell. The combination of all the herbs makes this a comforting warm spring soup. You might like some potato or rice with it. I like it as it is. Everything I need today is in this soup ;-). Selamat makan.