20101110 Soto Ajam

(SOURCE: Albert Heijn Recepten - Soto ajam)

A delicious Javanese meal soup with chicken, a soup recipe from Indonesia. A perfect dish for a cold and rainy evening. Once the bouillon is done, the rest is no brainer - that's why I made the bouillon the day before, and thought my husband could simply heat up a packet of microwaved rice and make this himself when I had an evening out. But as my evening plan was cancelled, my husband didn't even lift a finger!

Instead of chucking the garlic, I simply mashed it and threw it back into the bouillon. And I added A LOT of chopped celery leaves to my soup as they just added so much fragrance! Next time I may add a tsp of ground coriander and a tsp of turmeric to the soup to make it taste even richer. I may replace the cooked rice with grass noodles to give it a Vietnamese touch too.

INGREDIENTS
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 chicken legs
5cm ginger, cut into big chunks
1 1/2 tsp ground lemon grass
1 chicken stock cube
1 tbsp oil
100g cooked rice
20g wild celery leaves (selderij), finely chopped
60g bean sprouts
handful of fried onions

METHOD
1. Add 1L of water, the chicken, 1 garlic clove, ginger, lemongrass, and chicken stock cube into a large pan. Bring it to the boil, then simmer with the lid on for about 45 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Remove chicken from the pan, and sieve out the ginger and garlic from the pan. Mash the garlic and through it back into the bouillon. Use two forks to remove the bones from the chicken. Put the chicken meat back into the bouillon.
3. Slice the last garlic clove. Heat oil in a pan, and brown the sliced garlic.
4. In each soup bowl, add rice, wild celery, bean sprouts, and fried garlic slices. Spoon the hot soup and chicken into the bowl. Sprinkle with fried onions and serve.