SOTO AYAM (CHICKEN SOTO)- found in all Indonesia with enough variations to fill an entire cookbook

NAME OF CV NUSANTARA RECIPE:
SOTO AYAM  ( CHICKEN SOTO)

Soto is a common dish  found in various regional variations of Indonesian cuisine. It is a traditional soup mainly composed of broth, chicken/ meat and vegetables. There is no clear definition what makes a soto, but normally all traditional soups are called soto, while western/foreign influenced soups are called sop.

It might be considered Indonesia's national dish, served as it is from Sumatra to Papua and in enough variations to fill an entire cookbook. Soto is omnipresent in Indonesia. One way to classify sotos is by their regional style. Many metropolitan areas have their own regional soto versions

Here is a traditional recipe on SOTO  AYAM JAVA ( Java Chicken Soto)

Ingredients: for 4 persons

1/2 cup sliced shallots

1/4 cup chopped garlic

¼ cup blanched almonds

3 thin slices of fresh galanghal or fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

Blend all the above ingredients to form a paste.

3 tbsp oil

1 lemon grass- crushed

5 cups chicken broth (from the other bony parts of chicken like wings)

Breast of 1 chicken (about ¼ chicken)

Fresh ground black pepper and salt to taste

2 cups cabbage- cut into smaller pieces

2 medium size red tomatoes- each cut into 6 pieces

Heat oil and fry lemon grass and paste, stirring until golden-add in broth and cover with lid .

Add chicken, salt , pepper. When chicken is halfway cooked, add in cabbage and tomatoes.

When full cooked, remove chicken from broth, leave to cool and tear into shreds. Set aside.

SOTO AYAM- wikimedia commons- by sakurai midor

Final Ingredients:

3 cups bean sprouts- clean, to be eaten raw

2 pieces tempe (soy bean cake)- cut into small pieces and fry until golden. Tempe is regarded as a Javanese invention, a local adaptation of soy-based food fermentation and production

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro- garnish

4 large hard boiled eggs- shell and cut into 4 eachs

1 cup shalltots- chiffanade (paper thin slices)- Fry until golden brown- for garnishing

Some binjai crispy chips/ tiny potato croquettes or prawn/ fish crackers

Serve as condiments:

Lime wedges, sweet soy sauce and chili sauce-

Take portions of shredded chicken, bean sprouts, tempe and put in individual soup bowl. Pour in boiling hot  soup . Garnish with eggs, cilantro, fried shallots. Just before eating add on lime wedges and crispy binjai , tiny potato croquettes or use prawn/ fish crackers. Serve hot. Enjoy.

Javanese adapted many aspects of Indian culture, such as Ramayana epic dance..wikipedia.