← Nouns Cooking · Indonesian & Filipino

Ingredients

• 1 kg beef shin or brisket
• 2 l Water
• 3 Lemongrass, bruised and knotted
• 3 cm piece Galangal, sliced and bruised
• 3 Indonesian bay leaves (daun salam) or bay leaves
• 4 Makrut (kaffir) lime leaves
• 100 g Shallot, peeled
• 5 cloves Garlic
• 2 cm piece Ginger, peeled
• 5 Candlenuts (buah keras)
• 1 tsp Ground coriander
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 Cinnamon stick (optional)
• 400 ml Coconut milk
• 500 ml Milk
• 2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar
• ½ tsp White pepper
• 2 Potato, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes
• 4 tbsp oil, for frying the potatoes
• 2 Tomato, diced
• 2 Spring onion, sliced
• 3 Lime, cut into wedges
• 3 tbsp Crispy fried shallots (optional)
• 2 tbsp Sambal oelek (optional)
• 1 handful emping or prawn crackers (optional)

Method

1. Put the beef in a large pot with the water, lemongrass, galangal, bay and lime leaves. Bring to the boil and skim off the scum, then cover and simmer over low heat for 2 hours until the beef is tender.
2. Lift out the beef and cut it into bite-size cubes. Keep about 1.5 l of the broth (top up with water if needed) with the aromatics in the pot.
3. Blend the shallots, garlic, ginger, candlenuts and coriander into a paste. Fry it in the 2 tbsp oil over medium heat for 6–8 min, stirring, until fragrant and the oil starts to separate.
4. Stir the paste into the broth with the beef, salt, sugar, pepper and cinnamon (if using) and simmer for 10 min.
5. Meanwhile, fry the potato cubes in the frying oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat for 10–12 min, turning, until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper.
6. Turn the soup to low, pour in the coconut milk and milk and heat for 5 min, stirring, without letting it boil so it stays smooth. Taste for salt.
7. Put potatoes and tomato in each bowl and ladle over the beef and soup. Top with spring onion and fried shallots, with lime, sambal, crackers and rice on the side.

Tips

• Street stalls often add tripe and other offal; simmer them with the beef. For a dairy-free version, replace the milk with more coconut milk and stock.
• Some fried shallots and crackers contain wheat, so check labels if cooking gluten-free.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Daily Cooking Quest What To Cook Today