Soto Ayam Lamongan

'Throw away the cookbook!' That is what I thought when I followed a cookbook recipe to the word and ended up with a bowl of plain and tasteless soto ayam. Someone told me that it could be the MSG that made the difference, but I wasn't satisfied. After some effort I was lucky enough to get a piece of advice from my dear Indonesian friend. At last, I have finally got this dish right.

There are many different types of soto ayam in Indonesia. Soto Lamongan is a specialty from East Jawa, and it is the most commonly found soto in restaurant, food stall, coffeeshop etc. This is a dish served rather salty, so if you are craving for a healthy soto, make it yourself!

It will worth the effort.

This recipe serves 4

Ingredients
600 g chicken
1.5 litre water
3 cm galangal
3 cloves
4 stalk of lemongrass (white part only), crushed
3 tbsp of vegetable oil
salt, to taste

Spice Paste
12 shallot
8  garlic
3 cm fresh turmeric (or 3/4 tsp turmeric powder)
4 cm ginger
1 tsp white pepper
3 tsp coriander seed
10 candlenut

Other Ingredients
2 cups of cabbage (thinly sliced)
2 cups of beansprout
2 hard boiled eggs cut into halves
1 green lime
1 packet of tang hoon/bean vermicelli/soun
1 tbsp dark sweet sauce
1 stalk of parsley, chopped
3 cut chillies

Instruction
Blend the ingredients under spice paste. Stir fry the paste with vegetable oil until fragrant.

Bring the water to boil, add chicken, galangal, clove, lemongrass, salt and the spice paste. Cook until the chicken become soft and tender.

Take out the chicken from the broth and shred it, set aside.

Blanch tang hoon/bean vermicelli/soun and beansprout.

Transfer the tang hoon/bean vermicelli/soun and beansprout in a bowl, top it with tauge, cabbage, egg, chopped parsley and pour the hot soto broth into the bowl.

Serve hot with cut chillies, dark sweet sauce and lime.