Soto Padang: The Crunchy Beef Soto — Cook

Ingredients

For the broth
600 g beef, cut for boiling
1.5 litres water
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt, to taste
For the dendeng (crispy fried dried beef)
300 g beef, sliced very thin, dried before frying
500 ml neutral oil, for deep-frying
For the perkedel (fried potato cakes)
400 g floury potatoes, boiled and mashed
2 eggs, beaten, for binding
1 tsp salt
500 ml neutral oil, for shallow- or deep-frying
To serve
200 g rice vermicelli, soaked and drained
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley or celery leaves, roughly chopped

Method

1
Place the beef in a pot with the water and bring to a boil. Skim the surface thoroughly, then add the ground turmeric and salt. Reduce to a steady simmer and cook until the beef is fully tender. The broth is ready when it runs clear and turmeric-golden, with no grey scum remaining on the surface.
2
Remove the beef and allow it to cool slightly. Slice or shred it against the grain. Reserve the broth, keeping it hot over low heat.
3
Prepare the dendeng: slice the beef for dendeng as thinly as possible, season, and allow it to dry thoroughly before frying. Heat the oil to deep-frying temperature and fry the thin beef slices in batches until they are rigid, deeply browned, and audibly crackling when moved in the oil. This is where the dish lives or dies — dendeng that is insufficiently dried or removed too early will be chewy rather than crisp, and the defining textural contrast of Soto Padang will be lost.
4
Prepare the perkedel: combine the mashed potato with beaten egg and salt. Form into small flat cakes. Fry in hot oil, turning once, until each cake is golden and firm on both sides with a set, dry surface.
5
Divide the soaked rice vermicelli among four deep bowls. Add the sliced or shredded broth beef. Ladle the hot turmeric broth over each bowl — the vermicelli should be fully submerged and the broth fragrant with turmeric.
6
Top each bowl with one or two perkedel and a portion of dendeng. Finish with spring onion and celery or parsley leaves. Serve immediately: the perkedel and dendeng must meet the hot broth only at the table, so that the crunch is present in the first spoonful.