'Soto': It's not just the famous chicken version

Suryatini N. Ganie, Contributor/Jakarta

Soto, the broth-based dish served with various tasty accompaniments, is definitely one of the most popular dishes in the country.

The dish can be enjoyed not only at modest sidewalk stalls but is also found in the array of soups mentioned on the menus of the country's star-rated establishments.

Even abroad, soto belongs to the three best known dishes of the Indonesian kitchen, along with nasi goreng (fried rice) and satay. At the forefront is soto ayam, with cubes or slices of chicken mixed with other ingredients (bean sprouts, potato fritters)in the soup.

Soto is actually a very old dish with a distinctive spicing of shallots, garlic, turmeric, ginger, sometimes pepper and herbs like lemon grass. It was already mentioned in the cookery books on Indonesian food compiled by Dutch housewives around the turn of the 19th century. Beef or water buffalo tripe was made into a stock and therefore it was named saoto babat (Tripe soup).

There is also the story of the special Betawi (Jakarta) variety, soto tangkar. Tangkar meaning "bones" or "bony leftovers". In those times long ago, Dutch housewives made the beef stock and threw the bones away; these were collected by their servants who in turn made a delicious and spicy soto Tangkar.

But in World War II and pre-independence times the soto was eaten by younger Dutch newcomers with little else to choose from, and they thus enjoyed the kind of tangkar their grandmothers threw way!

Soto Ayam is only a variation of the many similar dishes existing regionally throughout the country. Soto has also many regional names -- it is saoto in Central Java, coto in Makassar or sroto in the southern part of Java, for example. Pronunciation will also be different; the Sundanese do not say "soutou" but "sotok" a softly pronounced k at the end. Spicings also differ from region to region, although basic items like shallots and garlic remain.

There are also different opinions on the place of origin of soto ayam. Because it is sometimes called soto Madura, many are of the opinion that the dish originated from the sea salt producing island off the East Java coast.

"No way," a friend of Madurese ethnic origin said. "I know my way in the Madurese kitchen and there is no such thing as soupy dishes! Calling soto ayam a Madura soto is not correct because soto Madura is made from beef. It has to be soto Pamekasan, a dish from a small town on the island, made from chicken."

The dish was originally made by clever, business-minded Madurese who settled in the nearby East Java capital of Surabaya. To make a living, they began to sell hot steaming stock of their gusto on wheeled carts and small eating places.

The most famous were soto Gubeng, and soto Ambengan, named after suburbs in Surabaya. Their success with soto shows the culinary resourcefulness of the Madurese, who also sell satay around the country in their distinctive "uniform" of a striped red and white T-shirt and black baggy trousers all over the country.

In the course of time, soto now has its equally famous regional representatives. Chicken is also not a sole stock ingredient anymore, but there are different kinds of broth, beef or goat or their tripe. The accompanying ingredients are changing too; soto mi, with the addition of noodles and baso (meatballs), shows a Chinese influence

Well, what makes soto popular?

"It is practical," my friend, a declared soto fan, said.

"One can serve soto at breakfast as they do in eastern Java, Add some sliced lontong (boiled rice in palm-leaf packages) or even a spoon or two of rice into for a nasi soto. And when you don't know what to serve guests for luncheon just make a soto, add more condiments, like boiled mungbean sprouts, slices of hard boiled eggs, glass noodles. For a crunchy bite, top with some krupuk (crackers) and for those liking it hot have some sambal (chili sauce).

She even suggests having it as the soup before the main dish, even if it's steak, in the evening.

So there you have it; it really is not just the tried but true soto ayam for a discerning palate!