Soto betawi - indonesian creamy beef soup

Ingredients

Beef stock:

• 1 libra beef
• 1 galangal, crushed
• 1 stalk lemongrass, crushed
• 3 salam leaves
• water

Spices:

• 5 shallot
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 cm ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground corriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• white pepper, salt, olive oil

Soup:

• 400 ml coconut milk

Other Ingredients:

• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced into 8-12 sections each
• 2 tomatoes, sliced into 8-12 sections each

Garnish:

• spring onion, thinly sliced
• crispy shallot
• red chillies, sliced thinly
• Indonesian sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
• emping (belinjo crackers) or prawn crackers (optional)
• lime (quartered)

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Preparation

• Beef stock:
  Boil beef with galangal, lemongrass and salam leaves until tender. Use a pressure cooker, so this only took 30 minutes, if you are not using pressure cooker, bring to boil and simmer for at least 1.5 hours. Since you get rid of the fat from the brisket, prepare this one night ahead, cool it down and keep it in the fridge. The next day, the fat has hardened and could take it out easily. If you are using leaner meat, you can skip the fat removing process. If you don't eat beef, replace it with other kinds of meat.
• Spices:
  Threw everything into my food processor and pulsed until it forms a fine paste.
• Soup:
  To finish the soup, bring beef and stock to boil, add spices, and add coconut milk. Adjust seasonings and spices according to your taste. The soup is done.
• Other Ingredients:
  Pan fry the potato slices on a non stick pan with minimal amount of olive oil (only about 1 tablespoon ), pan fry slowly on medium heat until softened, crank up the heat afterwards to brown the surface. Alternatively, you can soften the potatoes by baking or microwaving them.
  The tomatoes do not need to be cooked.
• To serve, place potatoes and tomatoes in a bowl, scoop some beef, pour soup over it, sprinkle some crackers, crispy shallot and spring onion.
• Serve with kecap manis, chilli and lime slices on the side as condiments.