Soto Padang

Anita Jacobson’s Soto Padang combines a spiced beef broth with thin slices of browned beef and glass noodles. She places the soup within Indonesia’s Padang cooking tradition and pairs it with perkedel kentang, the potato fritters served alongside her version.

Beef tenderloin simmers in water with bruised garlic, toasted coriander seeds, salt and white pepper until tender. The meat is lifted out and sliced; the broth is strained and returned to the pot.

The sliced beef is fried separately until browned. A ground paste of shallots, garlic, red chillies, turmeric and ginger is sautéed in another portion of oil, then stirred into the saved broth with galangal, daun salam, lime leaves, cloves, star anise and further seasoning.

A separate chilli sauce fries ground red chillies and shallots with salt and sugar. Glass noodles soften in boiling water, are refreshed in cold water and drained, then enter serving bowls with the fried beef before the soup is poured over them.

Potato fritters, the chilli sauce, sliced scallions, fried shallot flakes and lime wedges complete the serving. The fried beef and softened noodles give the bowl contrasting textures beneath its spiced broth and fresh finishing garnishes.