Soto Ayam

Method

1. Put the chicken and cold water in a 20 cm pot and bring to the boil over high heat, about 10 min. As grey foam rises to the surface, skim it off carefully with a ladle; this keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.

   Add in this stepBone-in, skin-on chicken thighs 450 gWater 1,200 ml

   high heat

2. Roughly chop the shallots, garlic, candlenuts and ginger and put them in a blender with the turmeric, coriander and white pepper. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water and blend to a smooth yellow paste. Pounding it in a mortar gives an even deeper aroma.

   Add in this stepShallots 4Garlic cloves 3Candlenuts (kemiri) or macadamia nuts 2Fresh ginger 8 gGround turmeric 1 tspGround coriander ¾ tspGround white pepper ½ tsp

3. Heat the oil in a 18 cm pan, add the paste and fry over medium heat for 5 min, stirring. It is ready when the moisture has cooked off, the colour has deepened, the raw garlic smell has turned toasty and oil starts to seep out at the edges. Add the lemongrass (bashed with the back of a knife and tied in a knot), sliced galangal, lime leaves and bay leaves and fry for 1 minute more.

   Add in this stepNeutral oil 1½ tbspLemongrass stalks 1Galangal 10 gMakrut lime leaves 3Bay leaves (in place of salam leaves) 2

   medium heat

4. Scrape all the fried paste into the chicken pot, then swirl a ladle of broth round the pan to catch every last bit. Add the salt and sugar, set the lid ajar and simmer gently over medium-low heat for 30 min, until the chicken comes away easily from the bone. A hard boil makes the broth cloudy.

   Add in this stepSalt 1¼ tspSugar ¾ tsp

   medium-low heat

5. Meanwhile, bring a 16 cm small pot of water to the boil over high heat, lower in the eggs with a spoon and boil for 10 min, then cool them in cold water and peel. Soak the glass noodles in hot water for 5 min until soft, drain and snip into shorter lengths with scissors. Blanch the bean sprouts in boiling water for 30 seconds and shred the cabbage very finely.

   Add in this stepEggs 2Mung bean glass noodles (soun) 40 gMung bean sprouts 80 gWhite cabbage 80 g

   high heat

6. Lift out the chicken, let it cool for 5 minutes, then shred it roughly by hand and discard the bones. Taste the broth and add a little more salt if needed.

7. Put glass noodles, cabbage, bean sprouts, shredded chicken and a halved egg in each bowl and ladle over plenty of piping hot broth. Scatter with celery leaves and fried shallots and serve with rice, lime wedges and sambal, so everyone can squeeze and stir to taste.

   Add in this stepHot steamed rice 300 gCelery leaves, chopped 2 tbspCrispy fried shallots 2 tbspLime 1Sambal oelek (chili paste) 2 tsp