Bakso is a popular street food in Indonesia. There’s even a children song about this food, which I am quite proud to say that I still remember the lyrics to it, haha. The main thing about bakso is of course the meat balls, the most common one is made from beef, but no one says you cannot use other meat of your choice. But a bakso is not just meat balls, it needs to come with the broth, the greens, the rice noodles, the toppings such as scallion, Chinese celery, deep fried shallots, and some sambal for those who love spicy food.
Bakso is such a common food that most people nowadays do not make their own meat balls. Any market, be it traditional wet market, the neighborhood convenient store, or the modern big box supermarket, carries packages of frozen bakso. They come in many varieties as well, from the traditional beef and chicken, to fish, shrimp, and cuttlefish. But, if you are worrywart like me, you probably still want to make your own bakso at home, just to be on the safe side (cos I am a worrywart, right?), and because it is actually not that hard to make anyway.
- 250 gram beef
- 80 gram ice cubes
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 100 gram tapioca starch
- 8 cups beef stock (*)
- 4 stalks Chinese celery, knotted
- 4 stalks scallion, knotted
- 4 cloves garlic, mashed
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 4 servings of rice noodles (Indonesian: bihun), cooked according to the packet's instruction
- 4 bunches baby bok choy, washed and drained, halve each bunch, parboiled
- thinly sliced scallions (Indonesian: daun bawang)
- thinly sliced Chinese celeries (Indonesian: daun seledri)
- deep fried shallots (Indonesian: bawang goreng)
- chili sauce (Indonesian: sambal)
- Grind together all meat balls ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Take about 1 tablespoon of the mixture and shape into a ball. Repeat until all beef mixture are used up.
- Boil a pot of water and cook the beef balls. They will sink to the bottom, and once cooked, will float to the top. Remove cooked beef balls from the pot and set aside.
- Place all broth ingredients in a soup pot and bring to a boil.
- Add beef balls into the broth, turn off heat when it boils again.
- Divide cooked rice noodles and blanched baby bok choy into 4 serving bowls. Top with beef balls and hot broth. Serve with sliced scallions, Chinese celeries, and deep fried shallots. Serve white hot with a side of chili sauce.
thank you for this delicious recipe.