Sop Buntut: Soup for the Soul — CRÈME de cornell

By Allison Farial

Although notorious among college students for its instant noodle Indomie Mie Goreng, Indonesian cuisine has so much more to offer than just a 12-inch packaged, dried noodle dish. Indonesia arguably curates the most aromatic and spice-laden foods in the world – dishes that take beyond five minutes to cook and require more than just a pot of boiling water.

Having lived in Indonesia for the past 18 years of my life, I would often find myself craving a bowl of my mother’s Oxtail Soup (Sop Buntut), more so than a bowl of Mie Goreng. Oxtail soup is a popular Indonesian dish that is served not only by street vendors, but also by 5-star hotels – particularly because of its sentimental, nostalgic value. This soup, commonly enjoyed with a warm bowl of white rice and deep-fried shallots, is a well-known masakan ibu (translated to mother's cooking). There is no doubt that Cornellians of all cultures and races must be missing their own version of masakan ibu. But regardless of where you are from, you must get a taste of Indonesia’s–specifically my mother’s–hearty Sop Buntut, as it never disappoints.

Ingredients

1 tbs. salt

½ tbsp white sugar

1 tsp ground white pepper

50g shallots

½ tbsp chopped ginger

¼ diced white onion

1 lime

1 Chinese celery leaf

deep fried shallots (optional)

steamed white rice (optional)

1 lb oxtail

2 ½ garlic cloves

4 whole cloves

½ tsp crushed nutmeg

1 tbsp of vegetable oil

½ cinnamon stick

¼ lb carrot

¼ lb potato

½ tomato

½ scallion

Directions

Clean the oxtail by placing it in simmering water for about 8-9 minutes. Drain and remove the oxtail from the water in the pot.
Transfer the oxtail to a soup pot* filled halfway with water and cook for 2 hours on medium-low heat until meat is tender.
While waiting, prepare the spice paste. Grind together the shallots, minced garlic, crushed ginger, and diced onion in a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
In a frying pan, add in the spice paste along with vegetable oil, cloves, the cinnamon stick and nutmeg. Saute for around 3 minutes on medium heat.
Once the oxtail has finished cooking, strain out the excess oil and foam. Then, add the spice paste into the broth.
Bring the broth and oxtail back to a boil. Add in the carrots and potato, then season with salt, sugar, and ground white pepper.
Reduce the heat and simmer once the potatoes and carrots start to become tender.
Turn off the heat and enjoy with slices of tomato, finely-chopped scallion, Chinese celery**, lime juice, and a warm bowl of white rice topped with crunchy deep fried shallots!

Notes:

* You can use a pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time to 40 minutes.

**Parsley is a good replacement for Chinese celery.