Surinamese Javanese Style Saoto Soup (Updated)
I used to have this soup back in Holland all the time and I’ve been working on a recipe that tastes similar to the soup in that little Indonesian shop by the market. I’ve been back to Holland recently and I have to say that this one comes pretty close flavor-wise.
A few of these ingredients are sometimes tough to find here, but since there are so many- I think its OK if you skip some. The photos below show a larger quantity than the amount indicated in the recipe below because I was making it for a bigger dinner party when I took the photos.
When serving the soup I like to lay out all of the various garnishes so that people can add or omit what they like/dislike to the chicken soup.
Indonesian Saoto Soup
Ingredients
Broth:
- 3 liters water
- 600 gr chicken cut
- 5 slices galangal root laos
- 4 cloves garlic whole
- 1 onion cut in half
- 1 handful fresh parsley
- 1 stalk lemon grass sereh
- 2 Indonesian bay leaves duon salam
- 2 large bouillon cubes
- 5 pieces allspice whole
- 1 tsp black and/or white pepper
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp crushed cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp galangal powder
To garnish the soup:
- 6 hard boiled eggs
- 300 gr beansprouts taugé
- 2 cups shredded cabage
- 2 string cut potatoes fried
- 1 small pack bean thread vermicelli fried (soe-on)
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- 3 cups of cooked shredded chicken breast from the soup stock
- 1 stalk celery & parsley chopped
Sambal ketjap (spicy soy sauce):
- 1 pepper habanero or scotch bonnet
- 5 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
Broth:
- Add all of the ingredients for the broth into a large pot and being to a boil, reduce the heat till about medium and cook until the chicken is done (about half an hour).
- Remove the chicken from the soup and cook the soup for another hour or so on low heat ( the longer the better). Add salt to taste.
- Once the chicken has cooled shred the meat with your fingers or use forks (no chopper). Add the chicken back to the broth.
Garnish:
- Peel, cut, and fry the potatoes.
- Boil, then peel the eggs.
- Rinse and clean the beansprouts.
- Fry the vermicelli and the onions separately in hot oil.
- Shred the cabbage.
Sambal:
- Boil the whole pepper for a short time in the soup, scoop it out and chop it with the clove of garlic before adding some sugar and soy sauce.
Notes
To Serve:
In each soup bowl, add the soup topped one boiled egg, some beansprouts, cabbage, fried potatoes, onion/garlic, topped by vermicelli. Add some celery/parsley and if f you like it spicy, add some sambal ketjap.
You can add or omit as many of the garnishes as you like.
