"Give me bakso and I will be the happiest girl in the world"
Obi Frakarsa, 2017
B.A.K.S.O
Bakso has always been my favorite.
Always.
No matter what the weather is, be it super cold and perfect-for-a-bowl-of-hot-soup night or scorching hot summer days, bakso has been one of the most wanted dishes at home.
During winter, I always have chicken or beef broth ready, with some bakso .
My kids and I adore it!
I can eat them on daily basis, although I know too much meat is not good.
In NYC, we do have options to buy bakso from Asian or oriental groceries.
But they are usually not halal or use too much MSG :(, so really not a good choice for me.
The best choice for me is to cook it myself.
While we're away from home, us, the Moslems, often worry about the food we eat as we are bound to at halal food. As we don't eat pork and all its derivative products, we have to be careful with the ingredients of all the food we have. Something that we don't have to worry about when we are in Indonesia. That's why I love cooking everything myself to make sure about it. I know we share the same concern with one of my dearest friends from Em(b)ak Ceria, Isti"adzah Rohyati. She used to live in Suly, Iraq and although Iraq is pretty much
dominated by moslems, but being away from home makes us cook almost everything. Even Isti is very good at making tofu at home! Yes, home-made tofu! How I envy here :). She's back to Indonesia now and I believe she has more relaxing time at home in Indonesia.
So now, are you ready to cook it with me?
Wanna try Bakso Isi Telur or Indonesian egg-filled meatball soup, if I may freely translated it?
Let's start with the ingredients:
Minced beef - 250 gr. Feel free to substitute it with chicken, mutton or no meat at all.
Beef chunk - 100 gr, for the soup broth.
Maizena - 1 spoonful
Soy sauce - 1 teaspoon
Worcestershire sauce - 1 teaspoon
Sesame oil - if desired, 1 teaspon
Salt - as needed
Pepper - as needed
Nutmeg - as needed
Sugar - as needed
Eggs - 4
Shallots - thinly sliced
Onions - finely chopped
Spring onions - thinly sliced
How to cook:
First, boil the eggs until done and peel the shell. Put it aside.
You can have the whole egg in one jumbo meatball or you can cut them into half or what you desire.
Boil the beef chunk for broth, add onions, salt, pepper and a bit sugar if you like, until it's nicely done and tasty. Sprinkle it with thinly slices spring onions.
Then mix the minced beef with all the sauce and spices, make sure they are all well blend.
Add one spoon of maizena to help forming the meatballs.
Shape the meatballs with eggs inside.
Cook it on a boiling pot of water, or broth will be better, until it is done and floating on the pot. Depending on the size, it takes at least 15 minutes in boiling water to cook those meatballs, but slightly longer is better so that we're sure that the meatballs are well-cooked.
Hope you enjoy this super simple recipe.
Eat it hot with some extra fried onion and chili if you like. Some also like to add egg noodles or bihun or vermicelli on a bowl of bakso.
I also like to add extra kick with apple cider vinegar.
And voilaaaa...
Enjoy Bakso Isi Telor - Indonesian Egg-filled Meatball Soup
