Who wouldn't love a piping hot bowl of chicken soup when feeling a little blue or when the weather has been draggy and wet and kind of chilly. It has been raining cats and dogs here and I have been feeling a little under the weather as well.
Soto Ayam is a popular Indonesian spicy chicken soup usually served with compressed rice cakes, noodles or rice vermicelli in Singapore. Usually, bergedil (potato cake) is served alongside with this dish to make it even more substantial.
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 Whole Chicken about 2.5kg
3 Chicken Carcasses
3 Lemongrass, Bruised
5 Star Anise
6 Cloves
2 Bay Leaves
1 Cinnamon Stick, 10cm long
20 Green Cardamon
1.5 Tbsp Sea Salt
1 Tbsp Sugar
3L Water
Aromatic Paste
2 Lemongrass, only the white portion
10 Garlic Cloves
8 Shallots
8 Candlenuts
2" Ginger
2" Galangal
1" Turmeric
50g Coriander Seeds
15g White Pepper Corn
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Fennel Seeds
To Serve
500g Yellow Noodles
250g Thin Rice Vermicelli/Bee Hoon
300g Bean Sprouts
Shredded Chicken
Bergedil
Hard Boiled Eggs
Garnish
Coriander leaves
Sambal Oelek
Kecap Manis
Fried Shallots
Lime wedges
Method
Toast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and white pepper corns till fragrant over low heat in a pan. Set aside.
Toast the candlenuts till light golden colour.
In a blender, blend the toasted spices and candlenuts together with the rest of the ingredients for the aromatic paste with a couple tablespoon of water till smooth. Set aside.
Prepare a pot of boiling water enough to submerge the chicken and carcasses. Put in the whole chicken and carcasses, let it blanch for about 7-8 minutes. This step get rids of any blood and achieve a much cleaner broth. Take it out and set aside.
In a large heavy bottom soup pot, pour in some cooking oil over medium heat, add in the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, green cardamon, cloves, star anise and lemongrass. Fry for about 5 minutes or till fragrant then add in the aromatic paste and fry over medium-low heat for about 8-10 minutes.
Pour in water, put in the entire chicken and carcasses, let it come to boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, allow the chicken to cook for 45 minutes to an hour or till the chicken is cooked.
Take out the chicken when cooked, let it cool and shred the meat. Discard the skin and put the shredded chicken meat aside.
Now, put the chicken carcass back into the soup and continue to simmer for another hour. Strain the soup into another pot, taste then season according to your taste with sea salt and sugar.
To serve, prepare another pot of water, bring to a gentle boil.
Blanch about a handful of yellow noodles, rice vermicelli and bean sprouts for a couple minutes. Put into a serving bowl.
In the serving bowl, add chicken soup and chicken shreds, hard boiled egg, Bergedil and garnish with coriander leaves, fried shallots, Sambal Oelek, Kecap Manis and Lime wedges.