🇮🇩 Indonesia · Makassar, South Sulawesi (Bugis-Makassar cuisine)
Sop konroMakassar beef rib soup
A dark Makassar soup of ribs (today mostly beef, once buffalo) in a rich spiced broth coloured by keluak (kluwak), with nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon and cumin, eaten with ketupat or burasa and sambal.
Origin and history
Sop konro is a signature dish of Makassar, South Sulawesi, said to be dozens or even hundreds of years old. The Bugis-Makassar people slaughtered buffalo for Eid, weddings and other celebrations and made soup of the ribs and bones. As buffalo grew scarce, beef and goat took over, and the soup moved from celebrations to restaurants. Makassar was a centre of the spice trade, which one source links to its heavy spicing.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Total time
- 2 h 30 min
- Hands-on
- 45 min
Ingredients
- 1 kg2.2 lb beef ribs (iga sapi), with meat on the bone, cut into pieces
- 150 g1 2/3 cups grated fresh coconut, dry-toasted until golden, then ground coarse
- 3 keluak nuts (kluwak), cracked; or about 30 g (1 oz) ready-to-use pulp; soaked in hot water and blended to a paste
- 7 shallots, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 cm1 inch fresh turmeric, chopped
- 2 cm3/4 inch ginger, chopped
- 2 cm3/4 inch galangal, chopped
- 3 candlenuts, chopped
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 3/4 tsp caraway or cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1 stalk lemongrass, white part, bruised and knotted
- 2 salam leaves
- 3 makrut lime leaves
- 4 cm1 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
- 4 cloves
- 2 green cardamom pods
- 1 tsp tamarind extract
- 4 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 liters2 quarts cold water, for simmering, plus water for blanching
- salt, to taste
- ketupat or burasa rice cakes, sambal, lime wedges, fried shallots, spring onion, to serve
Method
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1. Toast the grated coconut in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until evenly golden; cool, then grind to a coarse powder.
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2. Crack the keluak, soak the pulp in just enough hot water to cover, and when cool blend it with a little of the soaking water to a smooth black paste.
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3. Blend the shallots, garlic, turmeric, ginger, galangal, candlenuts, coriander and caraway to a smooth paste.
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4. Boil the ribs in plenty of water for about 3 minutes until scum rises, drain, rinse the ribs, and put them in a clean pot with the 2 liters of cold water.
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5. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower to medium-low.
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6. Fry the spice paste and keluak paste in the oil over medium heat for about 4 minutes, until fragrant, and tip it into the pot.
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7. Add the lemongrass, salam and lime leaves, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, pepper, tamarind and salt, and simmer for 1 hour.
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8. Stir in the ground coconut and simmer another 30 minutes, until the meat is tender and nearly falling from the bone.
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9. Taste for salt, then serve the ribs and broth in bowls with ketupat or burasa, sambal and lime on the side.
Notes
- Quantities follow Cook Me Indonesian's Makassar recipe for four; a second Indonesian recipe (Chef Rudy Choirudin, via Kontan) uses the same 1 kg of ribs with 2 keluak, tamarind, nutmeg, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and cloves, and no toasted coconut, so the toasted-coconut thickening is one of the cook's choices.
- Keluak (kluwak) gives the dark colour and a nutty, fermented depth. Raw keluak is toxic and must be prepared properly; buy it ready-to-use. Konro uses less than rawon, so the broth is blackish-brown rather than jet black.
- The meat was originally buffalo; today beef is usual, and goat is also used. Cut the ribs so each portion has a bone.
- Serve with ketupat or burasa (rice cooked in coconut milk and steamed in banana leaf); plain rice also works. Some cooks simmer red beans in the broth.
- Konro bakar, the grilled version, rubs the ribs with the same spice paste, grills them, and serves them with the broth alongside.
- The broth tastes better the next day and freezes well.
Adapted from Sop Konro: Makassar Beef Ribs Soup with Kluwak and Grated Coconut, Cook Me Indonesian and Resep sup konro iga sapi asli Makassar (Chef Rudy Choirudin), Kontan Momsmoney.
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