Delicious and flavorful Jakarta-style beef soup loaded with aromatic spices and herbs served with delicious sambal. The recipe can be done on the stove or Instant Pot pressure cooker
Preheat a heavy-bottom pot. Add 2 Tbsp cooking oil. Add shallots, garlic, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves and saute for 3 minutes or until aromatic. Add beef cubes, water and the rest of the spices and seasoning. Bring to a boil, cover and then lower the heat to let it simmer until the beef is tender but doesn't fall apart, about 1 hour or so
Remove the beef from the pot. You can briefly pan-fry the beef with a bit of oil on the pan if you prefer. Most local will do this to lightly brown the meat.
Add beef balls and coconut milk into the broth and have a taste. Adjust seasoning as needed
Cooking the beef with pressure cooker:
I use Instant Pot pressure cooker. Press "saute" on Instant Pot. When it says "hot", add cooking oil. Add shallots, garlic, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves and saute for 3 minutes or until aromatic. Add water and the rest of the spices and seasoning. Add beef cubes, water and the rest of the spices and seasoning. Scrape off the bottom of the pot to make sure nothing is stuck. Cover the lid and turn the steam release valve to sealing. Press "pressure cooker" and make sure it's on "high pressure". Set the timer to 30 minutes and then allow natural release
Remove the beef from the pot. You can briefly pan-fry the beef with a bit of oil on the pan if you prefer. Most local will do this to lightly brown the meat
Add beef balls and coconut milk into the broth and have a taste. Adjust seasoning as needed
Prepare the fried potatoes (optional):
Peel the potatoes and cut into wedges. Pat them dry and fry until golden brown and crispy. I use air fryer to fry the potatoes. Simply toss the potato wedges in a bit of oil and air fry at 350 F for 15-20 minutes. Check every 5 minutes and give the potatoes a shake so they cook evenly
Prepare the peanut sambal:
Coarsely grind the peanuts in the food processor. Remove and set aside then coarsely grind the chili in a food processor. Preheat a small pan. Add the remaining cooking oil and saute the ground chili for about 2-3 minutes. Stir to combined. Add the peanuts and stir to combine
How to serve:
Portion out the beef, potato wedges, tomato wedges into a bowl. Ladle the soup over. Garnish with bawang goreng and celery leaves. Serve with prawn crackers, peanut sambal, and acar timun on the side if you choose to do so