Ayam Mee Soto

I love Ayam Mee Soto. I discovered that when it is home made, it is divine. I chanced upon this recipe in summer and made it then with astounding success, and as we were in the thick of winter I made it again 2 weeks ago(but didn't find the time or effort to type out the recipe haha). This recipe is actually a combination of 2 that I found. I tweaked it to make it simpler and also because I liked the technique of frying the spices first in one of the recipes, and I like the blend of spices in the other. This is a huge serve but is great because its keeps well and you definitely want more than just 1 serve! I made a big batch of Bergedil too the next day because I didn't have the time and 1 ingredient the day I made the Soto. But it can be made simultaneously.

Serves 8-10
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, fairly large
2 Big red onions
5 Garlic cloves
2 Inch ginger
Spices (1 star anise, 4 cloves, 10 black peppercorns, 3 cardamom, 1 inch cinnamon)
5 cups water
salt to taste
3 Tbsp vegetabe oil
1 500g packet of egg noodles
Handful of beansprouts
Chopped coriander

1. Grind onion, ginger and garlic to a paste.
2. Heat oil in a large pot and add spices. Fry till fragrant. Add in onion/ginger/garlic paste and stir till fragrant.

3. Add water and chicken. I didn't have time to thaw out my chicken so dumped it frozen into the pot. Boil for 30 mins. For 45 mins if you were lazy like me.


4.Take chicken out and cool. Meanwhile, chop up the garnishes and boil the noodles to soften Drain and set aside. And blanch the beansprouts in hot water. When chicken is cool, shred it, discard the skin, and add back into the pot with the bones. Boil for another 20 minutes to stew the flavours.
5.Strain soup if you prefer(not really necessary the bits are lovely and adds to the soup) Assemble noodles in a bowl with beansprouts. Pour soup over with bits of chicken meat. Top with coriander and fried shallots and a Bergedil. Here's one without the Bergedil, i just fried an egg and added. It was just as beautiful. But nothing really beats a potato patty in the soup, when you cut into it, the mashed potato melts into the soup and the soggyness works like a treat.


Chilli Kecap
1/2 Cup Kecap Manis
2 cloves of garlic
5 Red chillies
1. Blend chillies and garlic together, then mix with the kecap.Eat with soto! Yum!