Soto Ayam is a surprisingly refreshing and aromatic chicken soup from South East Asia. Invigoratingly fresh lemongrass, mineral salt and freshly squeezed lime coupled with supple lumps of Bihun or glass noodles cooked in chicken broth tease your taste buds delicately and you keep wanting for more. 

Soto stands for soup and Ayam for chicken in Malaysia, Indonesia or Singapore. The Indonesian variety is the most delectable; it doesn’t have turmeric in it. 

The Malaysian/Singaporean variety is somewhat similar to Laksha (another famous chicken broth with vegetables and noodles). Here we have cooked the Indonesian variety or more precisely the Javanese version. Experts believe it’s the most authentic Soto Ayam which you can never have enough of. 

Soto Ayam Ingredients, for 4 servings 

• Chicken with bones, quartered- 750 gms
• Fresh lemongrass, fresh stalks- 2
• lime leaves, fresh- 5 
• Mineral salt- to taste
• Black peppercorns- 1 tsp
• Coriander seeds- 1 ½ tsp
• Cumin seeds- 2 tsp
• Shallots, peeled and halved- 5
• Shallots, thinly sliced and fried in vegetable oil until brown- 4 
• Garlic cloves, peeled- 3
•  Ginger, finely minced, 2 tsp
•  Peanut oil, 3 tsp 
• Glass noodles (or thin rice noodles), also called Vermicelli or Bihun- 150 gms
•  Lime juice, fresh, 1 tsp
• Celery leaves, chopped – 1tsp 
• Mint leaves, chopped- 1tsp 
• Cilantro leaves, chopped – 1 tsp 

For serving: 

•  Quartered limes
•  Sambal or Indonesian chilli sauce for serving
•  Cooked white rice (optional)
• Eggs, boiled, cut into halves- 4 

Soto Ayam Preparation

Step 1- Take a medium-sized pot, add chicken,  salt (to taste), 1 cup of water, lemongrass and lime leaves. Put the pot on a gas stove,  set the gas on high flame and wait until it starts boiling. Cook until the chicken is tenderized for about 15 minutes or as long as it takes to make a broth. 

Step 2: Later, separate the chicken. Keep the broth in the pot and set it aside. When the chicken removed from the stock is cooled down, peel off the skin and take out the bones. Cut them into normal cubes which is easy to eat.

Step 3: In the meantime, grind peppercorns, coriander, and cumin seeds into a fine powder. Next, add chopped onions, turmeric, ginger, garlic, a little bit of water and form your spice paste that we are going to use in the next step. 

Step 4: Pour peanut oil into a heated saucepan base. When the oil starts flickering, add the spice paste made earlier. Fry the spice paste in oil until the paste starts to separate from the oil. It generally takes about 5 minutes. 

Step 5: Put the cooked spice paste and the chicken cubes into the chicken broth made earlier, gently cook it for 7-10 minutes it the soup is formed. 

Step 6: Follow the packet instructions and boil the noodles.

Step 7: Turn off the gas top that’s cooking the soup, pour the lime juice and continue stirring. Add salt to taste.

Step 8: Partly strain the noodles and distribute in big bowls. Pour ladleful of the soup into the same bowl. Add some chicken cubes and sprinkle the herbs with fried onions (Shallots). With each bowl,  serve ½ tablespoon of Sambal– preferably the Shrimp Paste variety– and some lime juice, separately. Finally, garnish with bean sprouts and one egg on each bowl- cut into halves. 

At last, get some rice if you want it as accompaniment. Slurp the delicious noodles dipped in a refreshing, aromatic soup with the hints of the exhilarating sambal and eat with delight after the hard work that you’ve done.