Soto Betawi 🥩

Name: Soto Betawi
Prep time: 48 min
Cook time: 72 min
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 2-4 servings
Cuisine: Indonesian
Ingredients: 500 g beef chuck + 300 g tripe or tendon, parboiled and sliced; 400 ml thick coconut milk + 400 ml water or stock; 2 lemongrass stalks, bruised; 3 cm galangal; sliced; 2 cm ginger; 2 lime leaves; 1 tsp nutmeg; grated; Spice paste: 6 shallots, 3 garlic cloves, 1 tsp coriander seed, ½ tsp white pepper; Fried shallots; tomato wedges; emping crackers; sweet soy sauce; sambal; kerupuk

Jakarta's own soup, born in the Betawi kampung kitchens where Chinese spice trade met coconut-rich Malay cooking: beef and offal simmered until the broth turns milky with coconut milk and nutmeg, served with tomato wedges, emping crackers and fried shallots that make the bowl smell like the city's street corners.

Java Indonesian ⏱ 120 min Medium

Method

1

Parboil beef and offal 10 minutes, rinse; fresh water, simmer 60 minutes until a knife slides through. Keep the broth — it is half the dish.
2

Fry the pounded spice paste with lemongrass, galangal and ginger until oil separates and it darkens — 6–8 minutes of patience, this is where the flavor lives.
3

Drop the paste into the broth with lime leaves and nutmeg; return meat to the pot, simmer 20 minutes more.
4

Pour in coconut milk, keep it at a whisper-simmer — a rolling boil splits it into ugly flakes. Salt to taste.
5

Serve the bowl milky-gold with rice, tomato wedges, a spoon of fried shallots, sweet soy and sambal on the side, emping leaning out of the broth like a spoon rest.
6

The true test: Betawi warungs ladle broth over the rice separately at the counter — do that at home and you'll taste why.

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Soto Betawi 🥩

Method

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