It was a few days after new years when I decided to hop on my bike again for a decent breakfast. Sometimes it just came out of nowhere, and realize that you haven't had a particular dish in a while, so was my case that day. We've been having rice based dish for the previous two-weeks or so. Guess it was time to hit some boiling savory broth to start the day, as I approach a wooden cart sitting gently under a shack.
Soto with liver, intestine, and gizzard extra combo
Soto as we call it, has no equivalent word in English. Because sometime in the past, Indonesians decided to abstract it out of the classification of a soup just like we've explained in our instagram post about the core difference between the two soto vs soup.
The difference was very subtle. It was not about the spices or anything, not even its colour. Not every soto embody the same component, that's what made it interesting. In my case, the one I had was Soto Lamongan originating from East Java with its vibrant yellow broth.
The man behind the cart himself had lived in this neighborhood for years now; 10 years give or take. The food itself; the recipe, the taste; hasn't changed since the first time I had it, and that's the thing about tradition. It will always be relevant regardless when or where, if you only stick to the original recipe.
Once there was a point when commodity prices went skyrocket, and food producers needed to come up with a way to continue making profit. I've seen lots of vendors subtracting their portion, but not this one. He would rather increase the price because he believed that the world could turn upside-down but not his standards.
He started with an empty ceramic bowl, putting in 3/4 cup of rice, rice noodle, and scallion. Normally he would include some cabbage but not for me. Proceeded to the star of the dish: Chicken. He would slice it in considerably medium chunks; pretty generous I would say; from whole leg or breast. Pretty close to a handful if you're wondering how much chicken there is. Then goes my favorite part: jeroan (innards) consisting of liver, gizzard, and intestines. To finish it off before the soup comes in; this is quite essential; was a dry ingredient called koya. It was made out of powdered shrimp crackers and fried garlic. This is what makes the sip kicks. Before we move on, he'll squeeze some lime to make it brighter in taste.
You would see that I was not joking when he poured the broth into the bowl. Clearly you can smell chicken right away, plus these fragrant rhizomes are just phenomenal. Then there you have this the best bowl of soto in Cikarang in front of you.
Another thing about this particular soto is that you'll find the broth to be quite rich because it uses sauteed candlenuts that contains a lot of fat/oil as the flavor carrier in this whole system. It also makes its yellow colour to be more vibrant because turmeric curcumin is an oil soluble compound.
When you sip it the first time, you better believe me that the koya will kick right away added with the acid from squeezed lime. Then comes the middle note as the perfumers would refer to it, in the form of spices (turmeric, galangal, allium) that just got enhanced by the presence of candlenut oil. I would definitely say that this particular one is denser in spice and flavor compared to other soto lamongan I've tasted before. Pretty apparent from the appearance itself that this one exhibits higher turbidity. They also provide chili sauce; watery and runny to incorporate better with the soup.
Its solid ingredients e.g. chicken and innards are not bland either, they are well seasoned already before cooking. The overall texture was pretty well covered. You got the soup that is rich, firm rice, and chewy meat. The only thing it lacked was crunch, and I think it's good as it is but the addition of crisps or chips would make the experience even more surreal.
As far as I'm concerned, this is so far the best Soto Lamongan in Cikarang suburbs. I don't know what's wrong with you if you haven't yet got your mouth watering thus far, or at least thought of the taste.
to those who are intrigued by this article, you can find this dish every morning 7 - 10 at Taman Sentosa Ruko Blok M, Cikarang Selatan.
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