Tekwan - Indonesian Spicy Fish Ball Soup

 

And NYC is once again the freezing zone.

After enjoying the normal winter days in the beginning of the year, the temperature drops to subzero again on the second week of February. This time, it touches minus 17 feels like minus 24. A big no no but c'est la vie. We just have to embrace the cold :(.

feels like 

In a weather like this, nothing beats a bowl of yummy soup made with love :). 
And Indonesia has a huge variety of delicious-till-the-last-drop soups.

After sup kimlo, this time allow me to  present sup tekwan, a delish tradisional soup from South Sumatera, Indonesia.

Udara dingin seperti ini memang membuat kita cepat lapar ya. Asli, sejak NYC berubah menjadi winter winderland dengan angin super dinginnya, saya jadi makin hobi menghabiskan waktu di dapur. Memasak memang menjadi hobi saya yang ke sekian setelah diving, belanja, membaca, dan mengumpulkan prangko dan kartu pos :). 

Dan di cuaca seperti ini, rasanya semangkok sup favorit betul-betul menjadi andalan. Bahagianya semacam belanja Kate Spade di FO dengan diskon 70% plus bonus  anak soleha 30 persen hehehe. 

Apalagi belum lama ini teman blogger yang doyan kelayapan, Mommy Eka Situmorang dari ceritaeka.com yang baru main ke Palembang dan menebar makanan enak, termasuk tekwan di akun Instagramnya. Jadilah Mama Bo et Obi semangat masak tekwan deh. 
So, sudah siap dengan panci, spatula, dan perlengkapan masak lainnya? 
Mari kita masak.

Ingredients needed:

For tekwan or fish ball:

250gr Fish paste or you can grind fresh white fillet fish

100gr Fresh shrimps - ground 

100gr Tapioca starch

50gr Flour

Minced garlic

Salt and pepper

Fish sauce

For the soup:

Fish and shrimp broth - we can easily make it from fresh fresh and shrimp

Minced garlic

Onion, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper

Nutmeg powder - if desired.

For garnish and condiments:

Vermicelli - soaked in hot water till soft enough

Dried mushroom - soaked in water and sliced thinly or as desired

Bengkoang or water crest, can be easily found in Asian/oriental store, sliced horizontally.

Dried lily flower, can be easily found in Asian/oriental store, soaked in water and knotted it in the middle if desired.

Scallion - thinly sliced

Garlic - crushed
Fried onion

Bahan yang dibutuhkan tidak sulit kan? Kalau di tanah air, pasti mudah mendapatkan ikan dan udang segar, bahkan yang sudah digiling. Demikian juga dengan sagu, tepung, segala bumbu dan pelangkap seperti soun, jamur kering, bengkoang, bunga sedap malam dan lainnya. Alhamdulillah, NYC pun komplit lho. 

some of the ingredients

And now, here's how to cook it:

There will be some stages to prepare this soup. First, we prepare the tekwan or the fish ball. Mix the shrimp and fish paste with fish sauce, garlic, salt and pepper, then add tapioca flour and flour little by little. Once everything is well mixed, prepare a pot ow water and boil it. After the water is boiled, we need to shape the tekwan dough. Some like to make it like a small ball, some just simply use the spoon to create a rather 'irregular' ball :), like I usually do. Using a spoon, take a pinch of the tekwan dough (approximately 1/3 of the spoon), then using another spoon, push this dough and put it in the boiling water. Do this until all the dough is used. Once the tekwan or fish ball dough is cook, it will float, so you can easily recognized the cooked one. Once they are ready, put it aside.

While you are preparing tekwan and waiting for it to cook, we can start with the soup. Boil a pot of water with choped shrimp and fish paste, added with minced garlic, onion, pepper and nutmeg powder to make the shrimp and fish broth. Leave it boil for a while to bring out the original taste of the shrimp and fish. Put the sliced bengkoang or water crest in the soup and cook it for a while until it becomes slightly soft. I love to have the hot and spicy soup so I always love to add some extra pepper on it :).

If all the garnish is ready, get a bowl and put 4-5 tekwan, sliced mushroom, as well as dried lily flowers and add the soup with some water crest. Finally, put the scallion and fried onion on top of it and voila, your tekwan or Indonesian spicy fish ball soup is ready.

I hope you all can enjoy this yummy soup, especially in a the middle of a cold day.

Happy cooking...

enjoy your tekwan