February 13

February 13

A young Indonesian Soto-Ayam vendor

February 13

This day we sat aside for a day of a bit of R&R.
We did a lot of walking yesterday, in Jakarta, and we are sore and tired and a bit "baked".
Jakarta is very hot, dusty and busy, 
it is also very large...

We decided to just sit around, do a bit of walking around Bogor and just take it easy.

We went to a warung and ate a nice soto ayam for lunch and spent the rest of the day reading our books and catching up on some energy, we actually spent a lot of the afternoon sleeping in our nicely air conditioned room.

Jakarta is a busy place....

 


It poured in the evening so we visited another warung and had some fried noodles (mie goreng)

We went to bed early and watched a funky karate movie starring David Caradine.....

Hey mister....We speak English...you have money???

 

we had some great soto ayam here

Recipe: Indonesian Soto Ayam (Chicken with Noodle Soup)

Ingredients:

1/2 chicken breast meat, skinless and deboned (cut into small cubes or long thin strips)
1 stalk of lemon grass (cut into 3 strips)
1.5 cups of coconut milk
1.5 cups of chicken broth
1.5 cups of water

Bumbuh…..Spice Paste:

1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
4 shallots (chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 pieces of turmeric (peeled and chopped) or 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder
2-inch piece of galangal aka laos (peeled and sliced)
2-inch piece of ginger (peeled and sliced)
1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice

Other ingredients:

2 cups of sliced cabbage
2 cups of bean sprouts
1/2 pack of vermicelli or 1 small package of glass noodles
2 limes, cut into wedges
2 hard-boiled eggs (cut into wedges) and chunks of fried tofu,
1 stalk of spring onion (chopped)

Method:

Blend the spice paste in an ulekan. (granite mortise and pestle, see picture on previous blog)

Add some water if needed. Pour some oil in a pot and add in the spice paste. Stir the spice paste and wait for it to turn light brown. Add in chicken broth, coconut milk, lemon grass strips, and water. Once the broth starts boiling, add in chicken breast cubes. Cover the pot and lower the heat and simmer for 30 – 40 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Blanch beansprouts, pre-soaked vermicelli / glass noddles, cabbage in another pot of boiling water and transfer them into a bowl once they are cooked. Add in toppings of hard-boiled eggs, tofu cubes, chopped spring onions and pour the hot chicken broth into the bowl. Serve hot with lime wedges.

Soto Ayam

Glossary:

Soto ayam is a soup-dish made with glass noodles, a spicy broth, hard boiled egg, bean sprouts, tofu etc.