Bakso

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 500 glean beef, very cold, in cubes
• 100 gtapioca starch
• 80 gice cubes or ice-cold water
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 1 tspbaking powder
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspwhite pepper
• 1 tspsugar

Broth

• 1 kgbeef bones
• 2.5 litreswater
• 1onion, halved and charred
• 4 clovesgarlic, crushed
• 2cm ginger, bruised
• 1 tspwhite peppercorns
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tbspfried shallot oil

To serve

• 200 gyellow egg noodles, cooked
• 100 grice vermicelli, soaked
• bean sprouts and choy sum, blanched
• fried shallots
• chopped celery leaf and spring onion
• sambal, sweet soy (kecap manis), fried wontons

Directions

1. Simmer the bones in the water with the charred onion, garlic, ginger and peppercorns for 1 hour, skimming often. Strain, season and keep hot.
2. Everything for the meatballs must be very cold. Freeze the cubed beef for 20 minutes until firm at the edges — warm meat will not emulsify and the balls come out crumbly instead of springy.
3. Blitz the cold beef with the garlic, salt, pepper and sugar to a fine paste, adding the ice a few cubes at a time. The mixture should stay cold and become sticky and glossy.
4. Add the tapioca starch and baking powder and blitz just until incorporated. Over-processing at this stage warms the paste and undoes the emulsion.
5. Chill the paste for 1 hour. Cold paste is firmer to shape and holds its emulsion when it meets the hot water.
6. Bring a wide pan of water to about 80°C (175°F) — steaming, with small bubbles at the base, not boiling. Squeeze the paste through your fist and scoop off balls with a wet spoon, dropping them straight in.
7. Poach 10–12 minutes. They sink, then rise as they cook, and are done a couple of minutes after they float. A rolling boil tears them apart, which is why the water is held below simmering.
8. Assemble each bowl with noodles, vermicelli, greens and meatballs, ladle over the hot broth and top with fried shallots, celery leaf and spring onion. Sambal and kecap manis go on at the table.

Technique

• Cold meat, cold ice, quick blitz. The bounce of a good bakso is an emulsion, and heat is what breaks it.
• Tapioca starch, not cornflour. It gives the specific springy chew; cornflour gives a soft, pasty ball.
• Poach below a simmer. This one temperature decides whether they hold together.

Substitutions

• Chicken breast, equally cold, makes bakso ayam.
• A shop-bought beef stock cube base if you have no bones, though the broth is thinner.

Variations

• Bakso urat, with tendon and gristle worked through for texture.
• Bakso beranak, a giant meatball with smaller ones inside, a street-cart novelty.

History

Meatball noodle soup introduced by Chinese immigrants and sold from pushcarts whose bell or bowl-tapping is a familiar neighbourhood sound.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bakso?

Bakso is a soup & stew from Indonesia: springy beef meatball soup with noodles, sold from carts. Meatball noodle soup introduced by Chinese immigrants and sold from pushcarts whose bell or bowl-tapping is a familiar neighbourhood sound.

How long does Bakso take to make?

Bakso takes 40 min plus 1 hr chilling of preparation and 1 hr 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Bakso?

Yes, within limits. Chicken breast, equally cold, makes bakso ayam. A shop-bought beef stock cube base if you have no bones, though the broth is thinner.

What is the most important thing to get right in Bakso?

Everything for the meatballs must be very cold. Freeze the cubed beef for 20 minutes until firm at the edges — warm meat will not emulsify and the balls come out crumbly instead of springy.