Saoto Soup (Indonesian Chicken Soup)

This delicious and filling soup originates in Indonesia, and was popularised in Suriname through the contracted workers from Java who came to work the sugar plantations after the abolition of slavery in Suriname in 1863. It is a firm favourite with my kids, who ask for it almost every week!

The secret of this soup is as much in the garnishes that accompany it as in the soup itself. Rice noodles, shredded cabbage, potato sticks, fried onions, boiled egg, chopped celery leaves, bean sprouts, boiled rice - the list of possible additions to the relatively simple soup are what give it such a flavour explosion and "moreishness".

Ingredients

For the soup:

500g chicken breast

2 cloves garlic

1 tomato

2 bay leaves

10 All Spice/Pimento berries

3 litres water

6 chicken stock cubes

3 Maggi bouillion cubes

1 piece of fresh ginger (approx 2cm long)

1 piece of fresh Laos/Galangal (approx 2cm long)

1 lemon grass stalk

1 tsp black pepper

For the garnish:

1/2 white cabbage

300g bean sprouts

1 packet of potato sticks

6 hard boiled eggs

50g fried onions

50g fried rice noodles

2/3 sprigs celery leaves

For the sambal/sauce:

2 Madame Jeanette peppers

3 cloves garlic

6 Tb soy sauce/ketjap manis

1 tsp sugar

Method

Place the chicken breast, 2 garlic cloves (peeled but whole) and 1 Maggi block into a pot of cold water and bring to the boil. Leave to boil gently for approx. 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through. 

Put a large pot of 3 litres of water on to boil. Add six chicken stock cubes, 2 bay leaves and 10 dried Pimento berries and bring to the boil with the lid on. When your chicken is cooked through, put it in cold water to cool down, and then peel/shred the chicken in to thin strips. Add the shredded chicken to the large pot. Peel the ginger and laos/galangal and add these to the pot together with the lemon grass stalk. Chop the tomato finely and add this in as well. Let the soup simmer gently for approx. 45 minutes to let all the flavours infuse well.

While the soup is cooking away, you can start preparing the garnishes. Put the eggs on to boil and boil for at least 8-10 minutes, as you want them completely hard boiled. Cool and then peel.

Finely shred the cabbage and chop the celery leaves finely. Wash and drain the bean sprouts. I use a packet of ready made fried onions but you could fry the onion yourself. I find that this makes them very oily and detracts from the flavour of the soup. The same thing applies with the potato sticks, you could fry some julienned potatoes yourself, but why go to the trouble when you can buy packets of thin potato sticks in any supermarket? 

One thing that is worth while doing yourself is the frying of the rice noodles. This is partly because I have not seen these sold pre fried, unless as part of an expensive saoto soup mix, containing potato sticks and fried onion as well. The main reason is because it is great fun to watch the rice noodles puff up and become crispy as you fry them (OK - great fun is a slight exaggeration, but it is interesting!). Heat a small pot with sunflower oil about 1 cm high. Break the rice noodles into lengths of about 3 cm and fry in hot oil in small batches. In a couple of seconds the noodles should puff up and become white and crispy. Remove and drain any excess oil. Put the fried rice noodles, potato sticks and fried onions into a small plastic bag and scrunch up with your hands to make smaller.

To make the sambal/sauce, blitz the Madame Jeanette peppers and 3 garlic cloves using a hand mixer or food processor. If you are really old school, you can use a pestle and mortar. When the pepper/garlic mix resembles a smooth paste, add the soy sauce and sugar and stir well. This is a very spicy sauce so go easy on it, unless you are: a bit mad/Surinamese/suffering from a head cold/a chili aficionado (choose which applies).

Remove the lemon grass stalk, bay leaves, Pimento berries, ginger and galangal/laos pieces from the soup before serving.

To assemble the soup, take a soup bowl and add a handful of raw shredded cabbage, a handful of bean sprouts, a sprinkle of chopped celery leaves, a handful of rice noodles/potato sticks/fried onions and top with a boiled egg. Add to this a couple of ladles full of your hot soup and finish off with a drizzle of sambal sauce.

To make this into a whole meal in one, serve with a mound of boiled rice.

You will have to search hard to find a more filling soup than this, with not 1, not 2, but 3 different sources of carbohydrates (rice, noodles and potato). Go easy if you are watching your weight. The problem is, it tastes so good that you will definitely want a second helping!!!

Njang Switi/Enjoy!

DID YOU KNOW?

Saoto soup is often served at birthday parties in Suriname, where it is usually served at the end of the party. Maybe this is to ensure the guests leave with a full stomach!

DID YOU KNOW?

Galangal/laos is a member of the ginger family, and looks fairly similar to it's more widely known cousin. It is used extensively in the Far East, both in cooking and also in medicine, where it is used to improve blood circulation and ease constipation!