Soto Bandung

My mother comes from West Java, Bandung to be precise. So in our home, my mom used to make lotsa sundanese style food. They are amazing! You know, if javanese food is famous for the sweet taste, sundanese food is mostly savory and a bit spicy. And this clear soup is one of my family's favorite. No hassle. You don't even need to grind the ingredients. All you gotta do is smash the ginger, garlic etc with the side of your knife or smash it a little with pestle. Simple isn't it? Yet the taste is sooo good. Light and full of flavour.

Btw, Indonesia as an archipelago country, it has so many different cultures, tribes, and of course food. Including soto, it will easily recognize by the name mentioned after soto. For example, Soto Bandung. Of course its origin is from Bandung. Soto Betawi, comes from Betawi, Betawi/Batavia known as Jakarta now. Coto Makasar comes from Makasar, Soto Padang comes from Padang, West Sumatra, and so on.

Do give this Soto Bandung a try. This recipe is from my beloved mother. 


Ingredients :

500 gr shank beef, cut into 3x3 cm or according to your liking.
2,25 L water
8 cloves of garlic, mashed
3-4 cm of fresh ginger, mashed
4 cm galangal, mashed
2 lemongrass, mashed
3 bay leaves
2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil
2-3 tsp of salt
3/4 tsp ground pepper 
300 gr daikon, cut into about 0,5 cm circle


boiled chili sauce, boiled the following and the blend until smooth. 
-4 red cayenne chilies
-2 bird eye chilies
- juice from 1 lime
- salt 
- a pinch of sugar
- about 70-100ml of water

Garnish and accompaniments :

2 handfuls of soybean. Soaked into water about 30-45 minutes until it skin looks chipped. Drain with paper towel and deep fry until golden brown. Use low heat as they got dark easily, make sure the oil is hot.

1 bunch of scallion, thinly slice
1 bunch of chinese celery, thinly slice

sweet soy sauce (optional, I never use soy sauce for this soto, but some prefer adding a tsp or two of sweet soy sauce. Its your call)

HOW TO :
1. Bring to the boil the shank beef, and simmer for about 1 hour until the beef tender. Or else use pressure cooker to finish faster. 

2. Heat the oil in a frying pan, sautee the mashed garlic, ginger, galangal, lemongrass and bay leaves until fragrant. Transfer to beef soup.

3. Season the soup with salt and pepper.

4. Add the sliced daikon, bring to the boil and turn off the heat.

5. Serve with fried soybean, sliced celery, sliced scallion, sweet soy sauce and boiled chilies.