Soto Ayam

Soto ayam needs no introduction in this region. In Singapore, we can enjoy soto ayam any time of the day in many food outlets. Nevertheless, I still cook it at home at least once a month as my family loves this dish very much. I also like to serve this dish to my guests during hari raya.

This recipe is my mum's. I usually just estimate the amount of ingredients, but since I'm sharing the recipe here, this time I measured all the ingredients that I used.

Notes & modifications:

1. This is a truly homemade soto. The flavour comes from the chicken & other ingredients in the recipe… no chicken cube or msg.
2. Alternatively, instead of cutting the chicken into small pieces, you can cook the whole chicken. Once cooked, separate the chicken from the soup & shred the chicken meat.
3. The soup can also be served with yellow noodle or rice vermicelli (commonly called bee hoon). Just cook the noodle in boiling water & drain it. Then serve with the soup & garnish.

Soto Ayam

Ingredients:
nasi impit (or yellow noodle  or bee hoon)
1 chicken (cut into small pieces.)
7 cups water
1 stalk lemongrass – bruised
2-cm thick sliced galangal (lengkuas) – bruised

Grind to paste:
*2 ½ tbsp coriander powder
*1 ½ tsp cumin powder
*1 ½ tsp fennel powder
*1 tsp white pepper powder
*(You may replace these ingredients with 4 tbsp store-bought dry soto mixed spice (rempah soto)
3 candlenuts
400g onions (about 4 large pieces)
4 pieces of garlic
2 cm-thick sliced fresh turmeric (Fresh is better, but you may replace it with the dry ground form.)
1 small slice (about 1cm) cekur root - no need to use this if you can't find it.

- In a large pot, put the chicken, ground paste, water, salt, lemongrass & galangal. Bring to a boil & then allow chicken to simmer for about 20 minutes. (*Read notes & modifications for alternative method of cooking.)

Garnish:
bean sprouts (Blanched in boiling water.)
fried shallots
spring onions & celery – chopped fine
begedil (potato cutlets)

Chilli Padi Sauce:
¼ cup birds-eye chilli (chilli padi) – If chilli padi is not available, you may use fresh red chilli.
3 pieces of garlic
dark soya sauce ( I used sweet dark soya sauce.)

- Blend chilli & garlic into a coarse paste. Add in black soya sauce & mix well.

To serve:
Put the nasi impit in a dish, sprinkle bean sprouts & add soup & chicken pieces. Then garnish & serve with chilli padi sauce.