Beef with Turnips Soup ( Soto Bandung)

                                                                                                So go ahead and ask her

image of whatscooking america

                     For happy ever after
           Cause nobody knows what’s coming

          So why not take a chance on loving
      Come on, pour the glass and tempt me
            Either half-full or half-empty
         Cause if it all comes down to flavor
           The glass is tipping in my favor

Life gave me lemonade and I can’t imagine why
Born on a sunny day, beneath a tangerine sky
I live life without pretending

               I’m a sucker for happy endings

Thanks for the lemonade
Thanks for the lemonade!

I’ve got it made rest in the shade
And hold my love while God above
Stirs with a spoon we share the moon
Smile at the bees more sugar please
He really loves us after all

We’re gonna need another straw!

               I wish I could post up a lemonade recipe with this song, but I don’t think Chris Rice meant lemonade literally. But really…this song is haunting me for its beautiful lyric and meaning.

I feel that cooking for me is a lot like this song; the anticipation for happy ending, and the ability to just be honest to put my feeling and emotion into something positive, and share it with someone. Foods really have this kind of power!

Soto Bandung ( Beef with Turnip soup)

This week I miss my family back home so much that I started cooking foods from home; I guess the food that you grow up with will always comfort you, and somehow in the process of making it reminds me of a heritage and what makes me as who I am as a person. Have you ever think about that? 

The ingredients:

2 pounds of beef shank

¾ pounds of beef tripes

1 large turnips (peeled, diced to your liking size)

3 bay leaves, salt, and pepper to taste

1 lemon grass ( bruised)

Thai chilli bird and lime for  garnish

A handful of Fried Soya bean/ Peanut

Soto bandung spices mixture

Some of the ingredients for the soup

 How to make Soto bandung spices mixture:

In your food processor, mix 3tbsp of ground coriander +miced garlic from 6 cloves +minced red onions from ¼ onions + ½ tbsp of beef bouillon powder, add a little water if mixture won’t blend.

 Meanwhile, boil the beef shank with enough water to cover the entire meat for an hour until its tender

Cubed the beef and tripes to 1 ½ cmx 1 ½ cm put back into the broth along with the diced turnips, bay leaves, and bruised lemon grass.

Heat a pan and drizzle with 1 tbsp of oil to sauté the spices. Once the spice mixture is thicken up and release aromatic flavor, turn off the heat and pour into the soup mixture.

Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes so the beef and turnips absorb the flavors.

Serve it hot with a bowl of rice and drizzle of lime and fried soya bean/ peanut

 So this bowl of soup bring comforts for my family. What about you? What food brings comfort for you? I want to hear from you!

 
Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly* A food to your soul.