Beef Soup

Soto/coto is a kind of Indonesian traditional soup. One very popular soto is Coto Makassar; which come from South Sulawesi. Makassar is the capital city of the South Sulawesi province.
I grew up in a small mining town in South Sulawesi. So, this kind of dish is very familiar to me. I know exactly the the consistensy, the colour, the flavour, the taste and the smell of this soup. To be honest, I've never tried to cook it by myself. Either I bought it or my mom cook it for us.

It was one beautiful morning, after I dropped my children at school, I stopped in a traditional market within our housing complex. Again, I had no idea what to cook for dinner at that day. Luckily, I always bring some books/magazines including recipe books in my car! *It's my habit to always bring some books/magazines/newspaper in the car, and most of the time they save me from getting bored while waiting.

So, after looking the Indonesian recipe book, I decided to cook Coto Makassar! Aha, I thought it would be a surprise to my husband, *his wife has cook the famous Coto Makassar*. I wrote a shopping list, and found all I needed in the market including the cooked ketupat (rice cake).

Unfortunately, after all the effort and the excitement to prepare this dish, the result was not like what I expected. The soup wasn't thick as it was supposed to be, the colour was too light, and the taste was not like what I recognize.
Please don't think the taste was bad, no...no... it turned to be very delicious soup. But I could not call it as Coto Makassar, instead I would call it Beef Soup. We enjoyed it though, and like the sambal tauco so much!
Please note that I didn't use the innards as it is written in the recipe, but I only used non fat meat. I kept the recipe in this blog, because one day I'll cook again...

Bahan / Ingredients :
500 gr daging dan jeroan sapi bersih, siap pakai/500 gr beef meat and innards, ready to use
Air untuk merebus / Water for boiling
1/2 sdt garam / 1/2 tsp salt
4 sdm minyak goreng, untuk menumis / 4 tbsp cooking oil, for sauteing
3 batang serai, memarkan / 3 stalks lemongrass, crushed
2 sdt air jeruk nipis / 2 tsp lime juice
1 sdm bawang goreng / 1 tbsp fried onions
1 sdm daun bawang iris / 1 tbsp spring onions
1 sdm seledri iris / 1 tbsp chopped celery

Bumbu Halus / Spices (ground):
1/2 sdm ketumbar sangrai / 1/2 tbsp toasted coriander
1/4 sdt jintan / 1/4 tsp cumin
1 sdt merica / 1 tsp white pepper
1 cm lengkuas / 1 cm galangal
3 siung bawang putih / 3 cloves garlic
2 sdt garam / 2 tsp salt
2 sdm kacang tahan kupas, sangrai / 2 tablespoons peeled peanut, toasted

Sambal Tauco
2 buah cabai merah / 2 pc of red chillies
6 buah cabai rawit / 6 bird's eye chillies
4 butir bawang merah / 4 shallots
4 sdm tauco / 4 tsp tauco
2 sdm minyak goreng, untuk menumis / 2 tbsp cooking oil for sauteing
100 ml air / 100 ml water
2 sdm gula pasir / 2 tbsp sugar
*Tauco : salted, fermented soya beans.

1. Rebus daging (dan jeroan) secara terpisah dalam air secukupnya, bubuhkan garam. Setelah bahan empuk, angkat jeroan, buang kaldu jeroan. Angkat daging dari air perebusnya, lalu ukur kaldu daging sebanyak 1500ml.

2. Potong-potong daging (dan jeroan) bentuk dadu ukuran 1.5 cm, masukkan kembali ke dalam kaldu daging. Jerang di atas api.

3. Panaskan minyak goreng dalam wajan, tumis bumbu halus, masukkan serai, aduk hingga harum, angkat. Masukkan bumbu tumis ke dalam panci kaldu. Didihkan dan masak di atas api hingga kuah tinggal +/- 1000 ml dan bau langu bumbu hilang, angkat atau matikan api. Masukkan jeruk nipis, aduk.

4. Sambal Taoco: Gerus cabai, bawang merah hingga halus, masukkan taoco, gerus kasar. Tumis hingga harum, masukkan air dan gula, masak hingga kental, angkat.

5. Penyajian: Taruh coto dalam mangkuk saji beserta daging (dan jeroannya). Taburi bawang goreng, daun bawang, dan seledri iris. Hidangkan selagi hangat dengan sambal taoco dan burasa atau ketupat.

1. Boil the meat and innards separately in enough water, put some salt. After the innards get tender, then discard the water. Remove meat from the water and reserve 1500ml of the stock.

2. Cut the meat (and innards); size 1.5 cm cube shape, add into the stock. Cook again..

3. Heat oil in a skillet, sauté ground spices, put lemon grass, stir until fragrant, then remove from heat. Mix the spices stir into the stock pot. Bring to boil and cook over low heat until the soup +/- 1000 ml and smell unpleasant flavor is lost, remove or turn off the heat. Add the lime juice, stir well.

4. Sambal Tauco: crush the chilis, and red onion until soft, put taoco, coarsely chopped. Saute until fragrant, put water and sugar, cook until thick.

5. Presentation: Place coto in serving bowl with the meat (and the innards). Sprinkle with fried onions, spring onion, and celery slices. Serve while warm with the sauce and burasa or ketupat (rice cake).