Soto Kudus

Kudus is a small town in Central Java, Indonesia. So, soto Kudus, like any other soto with the town name after soto, came from Kudus. It is basically a Kudus style chicken clear soup. Lets just jump to the recipe, trust me, this soto is really worth the effort. Super delicious!

SOTO KUDUS
Adapted from Diah Didi

Ingredients

- 1 free range chicken (Indonesian: ayam kampung), cut into 4

- 2 liter water

- 3 bay leaves

- 2 lemongrass, bruised
- 3 keffir lime leaves

- salt and pepper

- 1 tsp of coconut sugar (Indonesian : gula merah)

Grind the following into spice paste

- 10 shallots

- 4 cloves garlic 

- 6 candlenuts, pan roasted until a little bit brown-ish

- 1 tsp ground coriander, pan roasted (appx 1 minute)

- 1/4 tsp ground cumin, pan roasted (appx 1 minute)

- 1 cm turmeric 

- 2 cm ginger

- 3 tablespoon sweet soy sauce

Garnish and accompaniments

- bean sprouts

- 2 scallions, thinly sliced

- 1 bunch Chinese celery, thinly sliced

- lime wedges

- 4 garlic, thinly sliced. Sprinkle with a little salt and then deep fried until crispy

- boiled chili sauce, made from boiled chili, a little squeeze of lemon, and water. Blend together 

- quail egg satay

- potato patty

- fried tempeh

Instructions :

Soto

1.  Boil together chicken and water, simmer for at least 30 minutes

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan, and sauté spice paste, bay leaves, keffir lime leaves and lemongrass until fragrant. Transfer the cooked spices into the chicken soup.

3. Season the soup with salt sugar and ground pepper. Add the sweet soy sauce.  Mix well.

4. Turn off the heat, remove the chicken from the soup, remove the bones and tear the meat into small shreds with your hands. Or else, deep fry the chicken just a few minutes then shreds. 

Garnish and accompaniments

1. Soak the bean sprouts in a boiling water about 30sec. Refresh under cold water, drain, and set aside.

2. In a different pan, boil the hard boiled quail eggs with the soto water. Add 1-2 tbsp of sweet soy sauce. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Let cool

To serve

1. Arrange boiled bean sprout, chicken meat, sliced scallion and celery in a serving bowl.Top with some soup. Garnish with sliced scallion, Chinese celery and fried garlic. Serve with boiled chili sauce, lime wedges and accompaniments.