Soto Betawi - Jakarta Beef Curry Soup

Soto Betawi is a curry-like soup originated from Jakarta, Indonesia. Unlike the other types of soto which normally have quite clear or transparent yellowish broth, Soto Betawi has a more curry-like flavour due to its use of coconut milk. I am not a fan of Soto, but Soto Betawi is an exception. I find this dish very aromatic, spicy and delicious.

Although Soto Betawi is not a dish that I would eat regularly due to its quite high-cholesterol content, having this from time to time can be a real treat. Like many other South-East Asian dishes, you would need to collect quite some herbs and spices to be able to make Soto Betawi from scratch, such as galangal, lemongrass, candlenut, bay leaves, turmeric, red shallot, garlic, ginger and coconut milk. This is a quite long list! And living in Germany doesn't make it easier to get ahold of these fresh exotic spices - sure we do have some local Asian groceries that do sell all those ingredients, but I don't go there often. That's why having an instant seasoning mix can sometimes come in handy. My favourite Indonesian instant mix brand is called Munik.

It's the best instant seasoning brand I know, that provides really quite authentic taste of Indonesian cuisine. Munik is also (as far as I know) more expensive than the other Indonesian seasoning mixes, but it's worth it. I have tried their Rendang, Gulai and Ayam Goreng mixes and I am not disappointed. But I have tried their Nasi Goreng seasoning mix, and I can only say, make your own Nasi goreng, it would taste better! I don't think that Germany has Munik in sale anywhere, I have my own Munik stock from my Mum who vistited me a year ago.

For the Munik Soto Betawi, basically you just need beef, water, coconut milk, the Munik instant mix of course and that's it - you can adjust the taste by adding a bit of salt, sugar or pepper as you wish. I served the Soto Betawi with chopped spring onions, fried onions, tomato slices, sambal (chilli) and kecap manis (sweet soy sauce). Normally you also need some slices of fresh lime and emping - Melinjo (Gnetum Gnemon) crackers. But since I don't like emping, I didn't feel that I missed anything :).