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Soto Betawi - Jakarta Beef Soup
Authentic and easy soto betawi (Jakarta beef soup) recipe you can make at home that will remind you of the real deal you find in Jakarta.
Soto (traditional Indonesian soup) is widely enjoyed throughout Indonesia and every region has its own specialty soto. In Jakarta, the de facto soto is soto betawi, where it can be found everywhere, from side street food carts, hole-in-a-wall places, food courts in malls, upscale restaurants, all the way to five-star hotels.
Each place will have their own way of preparing soto betawi, with a highly guarded blend of secret spices, and each with fierce die-hard fans touting theirs has got be the one offering the most original and most delicious soto betawi.
What you need to prepare authentic Indonesian soto betawi
Living half-way across the globe means I need to find an excellent soto betawi recipe that can satisfy me and my hubby love for this soup. I am proud to say that we are extremely happy with this particular recipe. The soup tastes exactly like the one we used to have back in Indonesia.
Here are the ingredients I use for my soto betawi:
- 1 kilogram beef shank (Indonesian: daging sengkel), or you can use other cuts that are suitable for stew or soup
- 500 gram honeycomb tripe or other beef entrails like intestines, or increase the amount of beef if you want to omit this
- 5 lemongrass
- 5 kaffir lime leaves
- 3 daun salam (Indonesian bay leaves), these are not the same as regular bay leaves, and is best to omit if you don’t have them
- fresh milk
- coconut milk
- shallots
- garlic
- ginger
- galangal
- candlenuts, can be substituted with an equal amount of macadamia nuts
Cooking the soup
Before cooking the soup, the very first thing we do is to prepare the spice paste. You can use a food processor or a blender to do this. If you want a truly smooth paste, please add about 2 tablespoons of water along with all the spices, but it is also okay if the spice paste is not very smooth.
Once the spice paste is ready, you can do the following to cook the soup:
- Boil together beef, tripes, lemongrass, daun salam, fresh milk, and spice paste over medium-high heat in a soup pot. Once it boils, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until both the meat and tripe are tender. About 2 hours.
TIPS: If using a pressure cooker, this step will only take 30 minutes. - Remove the meat and tripe from the pot to cool. Once they are cool enough to handle, cut into bite-size pieces.
Optional step: Strain the soup to remove any impurities and scums to get a clear soup, then return the strained soup to the soup pot. - Return the pieces of meat and tripe into the soup pot, add water, coconut milk, salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for another 30 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, discard lemongrass and daun salam. Stir in kaffir lime leaves.
What to serve with soto betawi
Soto betawi is never just about the soup. It is not considered complete if you don’t serve the soup with its accompaniments. I usually prepare all of these while the soup is slowly simmering away:
- make some acar (Indonesian pickle)
- fry potato cubes
- fry emping (melinjo crackers)
- fry shallots (Indonesian: bawang goreng), you can use store-bought too
- thinly slice some scallions
- dice a couple of fresh tomatoes
- cut a couple of limes into slices, so each person can add squeeze some fresh lime juice into the soup to suit their taste
We usually enjoy our soto betawi with some steamed white rice, all the above accompaniments, and a bottle of kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce).
Soto Betawi - Jakarta Beef Soup
Ingredients
- Soto
- 1 kilogram beef shank (Indonesian: daging sengkel)
- 500 gram honeycomb tripe (Indonesian: babat sapi)
- 5 stalks lemongrass (Indonesian: sereh), bruised and knotted
- 3 Indonesian bay leaves (Indonesian: daun salam)
- 1 liter fresh milk
- 1 liter water
- 500 ml coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 5 kaffir lime leaves (Indonesian: daun jeruk)
- Grind the following into spice paste
- 100 gram shallots (Indonesian: bawang merah)
- 4 cloves garlic (Indonesian: bawang putih)
- 1 inch ginger (Indonesian: jahe)
- 2 inch galangal (Indonesian: lengkuas)
- 5 candlenut (Indonesian: kemiri)
- Garnishes and accompaniments
- 2 tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 2 potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and fried
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoon deep fried shallot flakes (Indonesian: bawang goreng)
- emping (a.k.a. melinjo crackers)
- 10 kaffir limes (or about 3 regular limes)
- sweet soy sauce (Indonesian: kecap manis)
- steamed white rice
- acar (Indonesian pickle)
Instructions
- Boil together beef shank, honeycomb tripe, lemongrass, daun salam(Indonesian bay leaves), milk, and spice paste over medium high heat in a soup pot. Once it reaches a rolling boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and continue cooking until the meat and tripe are tender, about 2 hours.
TIPS: If using a pressure cooker, this step will only take 30 minutes. - Remove the meat and tripe from the pot to cool. Once they are cool enough to handle, cut into bite-size pieces, about 1/2 inch cubes.
- Optional step: Strain the soup to remove any impurities and scums to get a clear soup, then return the strained soup to the soup pot.
- Return the pieces of meat and tripe into the pot, add water, coconut milk, salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for another 30 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, discard the lemongrass and bay leaves. Stir in kaffir lime leaves.
- Serve the soup (soto) in soup bowls. Garnish each bowl with tomato and fried potato cubes, and top with sliced scallions, shallot flakes, and emping. Let each person add as much lime juice and sweet soy sauce to their soup. The soup (soto) is traditionally eaten with steamed white rice and a side of acar.
Comments
Anita, Drawn to your web site in search of the 'health tonic' soups that my Grandmother always insisted we drink a bowl of before dinner. We were back at her house for dinner on all of the Chinese Buddhist Calendar feast days. It is great to preserve the centrality of the food experience and sense that formed the invisible core of your early family life, which so many of us appreciate retrospectively. Will try my hand at the Chinese Herbal Soup. If you have other variations on this recipe or other soups served as 'health tonics' why not a section of your blog devoted to medicinal foods. It seems that my Grandmother prepared a bitter soup from dried dandelion roots or leaves (tuu gung ung' which was prescribed for general health. There was another that in Cantonese sounded like 'gaw gee tong' which was good for improving the health and sight of the eyes etc. Will also try my hand at Soto Betawi described above. Best, Ron
Hi Ron, thank you for your nice comment on the Chinese chicken herbal soup. There are other healthy Chinese soup in the blog as well, such as snow fungus and ginseng chicken soup, ang kak and ginger chicken soup, gingko nuts and ginseng chicken soup, and chicken and red bean soup. And I do plan on making more of this kind of healthy soup in the future, so please stop by again. :)
Ummmm... what happen to the spice paste??
Hi Anindya, in the 1st step, the spice paste is cooked together with beef, lemongrass, bay leaf, and milk. :)
Anita, thank you for recipe! I have tried this one, it was as good as the original one in Indo. This surely satisfied my craving of Soto Betawi while living in Oz.
You are welcome Feny :)
I fell in love with this dish in Jakarta, sadly I only got to eat it on my last evening in Indonesia. I was sitting at Oh La La Cafe at Jakarta Theatre and asked the waitress to surprise me.....bless her. Mow I can't get the taste of this dish off my mind. Thanks for the recipe Anita, I'm gonna struggle making it....hopefully it will be as delicious.
Hi Seth, that is such a sweet story to go with the dish :) I hope the recipe will be as delicious as the soto Betawi you have in Jakarta.
So I cannot eat tripe or other offal, nor can my wife. Is there a suggestion for substitutes for the tripe? Thanks in advance!
Yes, just substitute with the same amount of beef :)
I've tried 4 of your recipes since I found your blog, and the food has turned out perfect each time. This Soto Betawi is divine. So many layers of flavor, yet so simple to make. My husband (raised in Jakarta, a picky eater, and doesn't give compliments freely) absolutely loved it! Please keep your recipes coming. I am using your recipes EXCLUSIVELY now when cooking Indonesian foods. Your recipe blog is a godsend for a Jakarta-born Indonesian raised in the USA, who unfortunately gets too confused trying to follow a recipe written in Bahasa. Haha. Thank you, Anita!
You are very welcome Ruthie. You lovely comment makes me so happy :)
When boiled, the beef released this foamy gloopy stuff that stuck to everything. What am I doing wrong? Also, the boiled milk turned to looking thin like broth. Is that normal?
Hi Jelena, beef (or any meat) typically releases some scum when boiled. If you want a super clear stock, you can give the meat a quick blanch in a boiling pot of water first for about 5 minutes. I will call this step 0. Then you can proceed with the rest of the recipe. And, yes, the milk will be thin since it is mixed with the stock.
First of all, I love your website. Please keep it up! I do have a question though. When I boil beef, it creates this weird foamy, gloopy stuff. Usually I’m able to strain it off the top of the water. Unfortunately because there was already other stuff in the mix for this recipe, the foam stuff just stuck to everything. So sad after so much work. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks for the compliment Jelena. Hm... we will be scooping the beef (and tripe) up at the end of step 2 to cut into bite sizes. You can then strain the stock first to remove all the scum (weird foamy, gloopy stuff) so hopefully you get a clear stock for step 3 onward. There will be lemongrass and other leaves in the strainer, and since we want them in the stock too, just wash them under running water to clean them from the scum, and place them in the strained stock. I hope this helps.
Hi Anita I feel so grateful to find your blog, it's very helpful and very easy to follow, thanks for this recipe I tried to make soto betawi today and it's amazing!
Yay, I'm very happy to hear that Vony. And thank you for trying out my recipes. :)
I've never heard of this before, but it looks like a nutritious blend of interesting flavors!
I love that your recipes bring together flavors and ingredients that I've never tried before and they always turn out delicious! This recipe is no exception! :)
This looks so tasty Anita. I am excited to have a go making the recipe. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome, Megan. :) I hope you will love it as much as we do. :)
This recipe surprised me- milk AND coconut milk? Fried potatoes? What's goin' on?!? After I think about it a little more, it makes perfect sense for Betawi!
As usual, I'm cooking with what I've got- I fall back on substituting shallots for red onion because of price (and doing a little taste test, it's passable, though the onion is a bit sharper, as you'd expect) but I did use some shallot to fry. MMM! I had to put a lot of effort to save them for garnish because they are tasty. Same for the potatoes; I made a lot and then used it for some American-style breakfast scrambles, too.
Anyway, the soup making process had a few snags: for one, I was dealing with a power-out, which was just a nuisance, but at least goes to show how Indonesian dishes can handle any situation! I was also making the acar as well: that might have been better to make the day before, give the flavor time to soak in, and have less kitchen mess going on, hahaha. When I become expert soto-maker, I won't complain about that! One mistake I did make in my haste, was accidentally adding the water in with the milk. I doubted it would effect the flavor, but I felt maybe the milk bath has a tenderizing effect on the meat?
Anyway, the main thing is that A. all is properly cooked and B. taste is delicious. The meat was soft, and the accompaniments were excellent textures and flavors to add in.I passed on the tripe- I never have it at home. I enjoy a few innards here and there, so next time I'll have to see if the grocery butcher will give me a small portion. I forgot I had gotten a bottle of ABC kecap manis a few months ago, and I was happy to take it on it's maiden voyage of this dish!
{Something related to that- since I don't have a proper Indonesian pantry, I have often forgone on kecap manis in recipes. I'd been using a quick sugar/soy sauce reduction that I had found online on the occasions that required it. Now that I've got the real deal, I'm realizing that the flavor is a lot more like old-fashioned molasses. I know it's sacrilege- don't kill me- but I'm thinking molasses + soy sauce might work in a pinch. When I have an excuse to open a bottle of molasses I will experiment....}
My last note: even though I was the only one who ate this, I'm glad a few friends could verify that it looked like the real-deal from the shops in Jakarta, even asking me where my tomatoes were (because I forgot to prep them, lol) I would definitely recommend this recipe to anyone looking to try a soto that's not loaded with chilies hahaha
Thank you for the super detailed review, Milky. It is always so much fun reading your comment. :) As for homemade kecap manis, the "emergency" version is usually regular soy sauce + palm sugar + water, but I'm guessing molasses could also work :)
That sounds so delicious. I'm not familiar with Indonesian cuisine but the flavours sound incredible!
Anita, glad I ran into your site. Although I was born in Indonesia, when I moved overseas, decades ago, I was not carrying cooking knowledge in my pockets. I consulted my mother every time I long for Indonesian dishes. She is long gone by now, love you Ibu. Your site sure is a blessing for me, and I am sure for a lot of people too. For that, let me express my gratitude. Keep writing Anita. Thanks again.
We made this soup for dinner last night and it was incredible! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
I was looking at pictures of this amazing soup, and I could not move any further. I am a soup-lover, and I will definitely try this new soup version. Just need to study the recipe more precise:)
I bet this so flavorful! It looks amazing. :)
Exactly what I was looking to make. I'd like to try a pork version too.
We all need a comforting bowl of soup like this one , this time of the hour.
Hi Anita, I was wondering if we can also use beef that has already been cut. Does this affect the boiling time? Thank you!!
Certainly, Dheanna. The boiling time largely depends on how tender you want the beef be. Since you start with cut beef, it may take less time, though it depends on how large the cut is. I would say try reducing the boiling time by 30 minutes. If the meat is still tough, you can always cook a bit longer. :)
Hi, do you think I can use instantpot to make this? How will the recipe change? Thank you.
Hi Lisa, if using a pressure cooker like an instant pot, step 1 will only take 30 minutes. You can cut the meat and tripe first into bite-size pieces before doing step 1, so you can skip step 2. From step 3 onward, please follow the recipe as is. :)
So excited to try this once all the ingredients arrive :) I'm on a no cow's dairy diet. Have you ever made this w/ only coconut milk? Do you think it would turn out just as good? Thank you!
Hi Lysikins, you can use only coconut milk if you want to. If you are using canned coconut milk, please replace 1 liter fresh milk with 500 ml coconut milk and 500 milk water. Then follow the rest of the ingredients and recipe as is. :)
Hello Anita, can I omit Galangal? Is there any kind of substitute I can use instead?
You can replace galangal with ginger, although it is still not a perfect substitution. Please use 2-inches of ginger instead of 1-inch of ginger if you omit galangal.
I have a packet mix of Munik brand Soto Betawi, do you have any experience with that? Their Rendang mix is really, really good (and I learned to make rendang in a small kampung in Sumatera Barat, so I know rendang!).
Hi David, I don't have much experience with Munik packet mix, so I don't know how close the flavor will be compared to the real one. Many of my Indonesian friends love Munik packet mixes, so I think they should be quite good.
I recently visited Jakarta and fell in love with Soto Betawi. I've been looking for an authentic recipe to recreate the flavors at home, and this seems spot on! The detailed instructions and the background information about the dish make it so much more special. Can't wait to try this over the weekend!
This recipe brought back so many memories of my grandmother's cooking. The combination of spices and coconut milk gives the soup such a unique and comforting flavor. I appreciate the tips on using a pressure cooker; it saved me so much time!
I've never tried Indonesian cuisine before, but this dish sounds so hearty and flavorful. I'm intrigued by the use of honeycomb tripe and candlenuts. I'll have to source some of these ingredients, but I'm excited to expand my culinary horizons with this soup. Thanks for sharing, Anita!
I made this for my family last night, and it was a hit! The depth of flavor in the broth was incredible. We especially loved the garnishes, which added different textures and flavors to the soup. The acar (Indonesian pickle) was a delightful touch. Will definitely be making this again!
This Soto Betawi recipe is a gem! It brings Jakarta's authentic beef soup to your kitchen with clear instructions. The rich, flavorful broth and delicious accompaniments make it a must-try!
Hi Anita, is it necessary to stir fry the spice paste before dunking it to the soup pot?
Hi Stephanie, I usually don't fry the spice paste first, but you can definitely do that if you want to.
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