🇮🇩 Indonesia · Java (hotel and restaurant dish across Indonesia)
Sop buntutIndonesian oxtail soup
A clear, light Indonesian soup of oxtail simmered for hours with shallot, garlic, white pepper, nutmeg and clove, with carrot, potato, tomato and celery, eaten with rice, sambal, sweet soy and lime.
Origin and history
Indonesian food media say oxtail soup was not originally Indonesian and probably arrived through European cooking, with similar dishes in Chinese and Korean cooking. It became widely known in Indonesia around 1970, when Hotel Borobudur in Jakarta put it on its menu; street vendors began selling it soon after.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 3 h 30 min
- Hands-on
- 40 min
Ingredients
- 1 kg2.2 lb oxtail, cut in sections by the butcher
- 3 liters3 quarts water, plus extra for the first boil
- 6 shallots, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/4 onion, sliced
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (pala), or 1 whole nutmeg, cracked
- 3 cloves (cengkeh)
- 1/2 tsp ground white or black pepper
- 3 carrots, cut in thick rounds
- 3 potatoes, peeled, cut in chunks
- 2 tomatoes, cut in wedges
- 2 stalks spring onion, cut in 2 cm pieces
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
- 1 tsp sugar
- fried shallots, sambal, sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), lime wedges and steamed rice, to serve
Method
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1. Soak the oxtail in cold water for at least 1 hour to draw out blood, then drain.
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2. Cover the oxtail with fresh water, bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse the pieces and wash out the pot.
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3. Return the oxtail to the pot with 3 liters of fresh water and the nutmeg. Bring to a boil, skim, then simmer gently, partly covered, for about 2 h 30 min, until the meat is tender and pulls from the bone.
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4. Meanwhile, boil the carrots and potatoes in a separate pot until just tender (about 15 minutes) and set aside, so the oxtail broth stays clear.
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5. Fry the shallots, garlic and onion in a little oil until lightly golden, then stir them into the oxtail pot together with the cloves.
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6. Season with salt, sugar and pepper and simmer for another 15 minutes.
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7. Add the cooked carrots and potatoes, tomato wedges, spring onion and celery. Bring back to a boil for 1 minute and taste for salt.
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8. Serve hot with rice, sambal, sweet soy sauce, lime and fried shallots.
Notes
- Recipes differ in spices: some use only nutmeg, others add cloves, cinnamon, cardamom or star anise. This version sticks to nutmeg, clove and pepper, which are the common core.
- Boiling the oxtail once and discarding that water, and cooking the vegetables separately, are the tricks Indonesian recipes use to keep the broth clear.
- A pressure cooker cuts the oxtail cooking time to roughly an hour; one source gives a 70 minute total time that way.
- Make ahead: the broth is better the next day, and the fat can be lifted off once chilled.
Adapted from Viva.co.id, Sop Buntut, Begini Sejarah dan Resepnya (recipe by Afni Fayati), Fimela, Resep Sop Buntut yang Lezat untuk Menu Ramadan, and MomsMoney (Kontan), Resep Sop Buntut Sapi Kuah Bening.
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.