Soto ayam with spring greens
This warming, comforting chicken soup from Shu Han Lee’s Agak Agak is full of fresh greens and herbs, and has the base of a rich rempah (spice paste). It’s served with home sambal tumis and fried shallots. Credit: Agak Agak by Shu Han Lee (Hardie Grant, £26), Photography © Ola O. Smit.
Shu says: ‘While I mainly grew up with Mum’s Chinese soups, I have fond memories of this Malay spiced chicken soup. My primary school canteen only had three stalls: one that sold tidbits; one that sold drinks; and one owned by a Malay Auntie with a daily changing special. My favourite dish was soto ayam: spiced chicken soup that’s golden with turmeric and topped with fried shallots and mild sambal. It’s mostly served with lontong (pressed rice cakes), fried potato cakes, rice noodles and/or hard-boiled eggs to make it more of a complete meal, but I often simply serve the flavour-packed broth with shredded chicken and vegetables as a side.’
On the fried shallots: ‘You can buy tubs of fried shallots from most Asian supermarkets. They are handy to have in the larder for crispy garnishes. For the best flavour, it’s worth frying your own. As a bonus, you get a fragrant oil that’s infused with the heavenly smell of fried shallots. (Makes about 100g and 250 ml oil)’.
On the sambal tumis: ‘Sambal is the quintessential chilli sauce that’s found on tables and menus across Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. There are hundreds of sambal recipes across the region, but this sambal tumis is my favourite of them all. ‘Tumis’ refers to the process of slowly frying the chilli paste until it caramelises and deepens in colour and flavour. It’s good on pretty much anything and everything, not just the Singaporean dishes in this book. When I first started doing supper clubs, we would periodically release limited drops of my Red Hot Sambal Tumis. I would make only a dozen jars at once, post it onto our mailing list, and they would sell out in minutes. The anonymous sambal buyers would meet at a London tube station at a certain time and we would exchange the jars for a fiver. Years later, we make them in batches of 500 jars for Rempapa Spice Co. Below is a variation of that sambal. (Makes 1 x 200ml jar)’.
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Fried Shallots and Shallot Oil
- 100g of shallots
- 1 pinch of fine sea salt
- vegetable oil, for frying
Sambal Tumis, Slow-Fried Chilli Sauce
- 10 dried red Kashmiri chillies
- 1 lemongrass stalk, base only, finely chopped
- 100g of shallots, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 large red chillies, roughly chopped
- 100ml of vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp of tamarind paste
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt, or to taste
- 3/4 tsp gula melaka, (coconut palm sugar) or light brown sugar
Broth
- 750g of bone-in chicken thighs, or drumsticks, skin on
- 1.5l water
- 1 lemongrass stalk, bashed lightly
- 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt, or to taste
- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 1 cinnamon bark
- 2 star anise
Rempah (spice paste)
- 100g of shallots, roughly chopped
- fresh ginger, thumb-sized piece, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp of ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
To serve
- 1 bunch of spring greens, sliced into ribbons
- 1 juice of half a lime, the remaining 1⁄2 sliced into wedges
- 1 handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
- 1 spring onion, sliced thinly diagonally
Method
Peel the shallots and slice thinly crosswise into rings. Just before you’re ready to fry, sprinkle the shallots with salt. This helps them to crisp up more easily
- 100g of shallots
- 1 pinch of fine sea salt
Heat about 1 cm of oil in a wok or frying pan over medium heat. To test if the temperature is right, stick a wooden chopstick into the oil – you should see very tiny bubbles sizzling around it gently
- vegetable oil, for frying
Add the shallots to the oil, spreading them out in a single layer. They should sizzle steadily. Fry for 8–10 minutes until the edges turn golden. Turn the heat off at this stage and let the shallots continue to fry in the residual heat of the oil until they are perfectly golden
Drain the fried shallots through a strainer set over a bowl. The shallots will crisp up and darken a bit more as they cool. Once cooled, transfer the fried shallots to an airtight container and shallot oil to a jar
Using kitchen scissors, roughly snip the dried red chillies and shake out the seeds. Soak in a bowl of hot water until soft, then drain
Pound the lemongrass, shallots, garlic, dried and fresh chillies together using a pestle and mortar or whizz in a small blender until you get a fine paste
- 1 lemongrass stalk, base only, finely chopped
- 100g of shallots, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 large red chillies, roughly chopped
Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan set over medium heat. Once hot, add the chilli paste to the oil and turn the heat down to low. Fry the paste, stirring to make sure it doesn’t stick or burn. It can take 30–45 minutes to cook, and if you’re scaling the recipe up, it could take more than an hour. Use your senses to determine if it’s ready – the chilli paste will darken to a deep red and you’ll see the oil separating again from the mixture. It should smell very fragrant and have none of that ‘raw’ taste of shallots
- 100ml of vegetable oil
Stir in the tamarind, salt and sugar. Keep cooking until the sugar dissolves. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed
- 2 tbsp of tamarind paste
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt, or to taste
- 3/4 tsp gula melaka, (coconut palm sugar) or light brown sugar
Store in a clean jar in the fridge. The sambal will keep for up to 2 weeks if you make sure to keep it submerged under oil and not double dip
To a large pot filled with boiling water, add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Drain, discarding the scummy water
- 750g of bone-in chicken thighs, or drumsticks, skin on
Now return the blanched chicken to the pot, cover with the measured fresh water and bring to the boil. Skim off and discard any scum that surfaces, then add the bruised lemongrass and salt, cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes
- 1.5l water
- 1 lemongrass stalk, bashed lightly
While the stock is simmering, pound all the spice paste ingredients using a pestle and mortar or whizz in a small blender until you get a fine paste. If blending, you might need to add 1–2 tablespoons of water
- 100g of shallots, roughly chopped
- fresh ginger, thumb-sized piece, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp of ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
Set a small frying pan over medium heat, with the vegetable oil. Once hot, add the cinnamon bark and star anise and fry for a minute until fragrant. Stir in the spice paste and keep frying for another 5 minutes before transferring the spice mix into the main stock pot
- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 1 cinnamon bark
- 2 star anise
Simmer the broth for 1 hour 30 minutes, then fish out the whole spices and remove the chicken
When cool enough to handle, tear the meat from the bones, shred into bite-sized pieces and divide among bowls
Meanwhile, add the spring green ribbons to the bubbling broth and let cook, uncovered, until the greens wilt. Stir in the lime juice, then taste the broth at this stage and season with more salt as needed
- 1 bunch of spring greens, sliced into ribbons
- 1 juice of half a lime, the remaining 1⁄2 sliced into wedges
To serve, ladle the hot broth and spring greens into bowls with the shredded chicken
Top each bowl with the coriander, spring onion, and serve with the fried shallots, a dollop of sambal and the lime wedges
- 1 handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
- 1 spring onion, sliced thinly diagonally
Get in touch
Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.
You may also like
SITES
