Soto Ayam Kaw Kaw with SingLong Egg Noodles

After eating 2 helpings of this noodle soup, my husband insisted that I should cook this every day. I was flattered yes, but that didn't keep my eyes from growing wide with anxiety. "Urghhh how do I tell him?" Sensing my uneasiness he asked, "Is it <pause, bracing himself for impact> unhealthy?"

Well, I try to remove all traces of oil as best I can, but why don't you be the judge?

This recipe is delicious and does not need MSG to elevate the taste.

Get'cho business in order because the aromatics and spices work in fast successions.

Flavour the oil with star anise, cloves and cardamom pods. If you have cinnamon stick, include it in too. I ran out, so .. oh well..

Turn the heat up. When you feel that the oil is getting hot, add lemongrass stalks.

As soon as the lemongrass stalks release a strong, fragrant aroma, you know it's the right time to add shallots and curry leaves.

When the shallots start to turn a little translucent, add garlic, bird eye chillies and leeks.

(This is me being extra, I decided to give this dish extra ooomph by adding leeks.)

Deglaze the pot with some water then add cumin, fennel, turmeric, black and white pepper powders. Give it a good stir, then add soy sauce.

Lower the chicken carcasses into the pot and submerge it with water.

How much water is needed? Just 3/4 of this 6-litre pot or when the water covers the top of the carcass.

The maximum timing I can set is around 1 hour and 49 minutes.

But for good broth, I really suggest to go above 3 hours.

After 3 hours, the meat should fall off its bones. I love savouring the chicken's tender flesh and picking every last bit of it.

This time, I boiled some SingLong Egg Noodles and did a quick Tai Bak Choy stir fry to go with the soup. A very satisfying meal to have as the sun sets.

Recipe serves 2

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes (to fry aromatics) 3 hours to boil soup

2 chicken carcasses (or 1 chicken carcass and 2 chicken legs)

Any choice of vege

2 star anise

2 cloves

5 cardamom pods

2 lemongrass stalks

4-5 shallots

5 sprigs curry leaves

4 garlic cloves

2 bird eye chillies (or 5 dried chillies, or green chillies)

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp fennel powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp white pepper

1 tbsp soy sauce

Salt to taste and scallions to garnish

Steps:

1. Add enough oil to thinly cover the base of the pot. When the oil gets hot, add star anise, cloves and cardamom pods. When the heat builds, add lemongrass stalks and keep frying until it becomes fragrant.

2. Now quickly add curry leaves and shallots into the mix. When the shallots are turning translucent, add garlic and bird eye chillies.

3. The heat will caramelize the aromatics now, so add a bit of water to deglaze the pot. Immediately pour all the powders into the mix. Next, stir in soy sauce.

4. Lower the chicken carcasses into the pot and add water until it just about covers the top of the chicken. Boil the soup in low fire for 3 hours.

5. Prep some scallions, vege and noodles to enjoy with the delicious Soto Ayam soup.

extra!

Here's the same recipe I made with chicken legs instead of chicken carcass using broccoli for vege and replacing egg noodles with glass noodles.

The Soto Ayam soup base is really delicious and versatile it's hard to get bored of it :)

#sotoayam #resepisotoayam #SingLongnoodles #SingLong #glassnoodles #lemongrasschickensoup #eggnoodles