Soto (also known as sroto, tauto, saoto, or coto) is a traditional
Indonesian soup mainly composed of broth, meat, and vegetables. Many traditional soups are called soto, whereas foreign and Western influenced soups are called sop.
Soto is sometimes considered Indonesia's
national dish,[2] as it is served from
Sumatra to
Papua, in a wide range of variations. Soto is omnipresent in Indonesia, available in many warungs and open-air eateries on many street corners, to fine dining restaurants and luxurious hotels.[3] Soto, especially soto ayam (chicken soto), is an Indonesian equivalent of
chicken soup. Soto is regarded as an Indonesian
comfort food[4][5][1] because it is always served warm and has a tender texture.
Because of the proximity and significant numbers of Indonesian migrants working and settling in the neighbouring countries, soto can also be found in
Singapore and
Malaysia, thus becoming a part of their cuisine.
Introduced to
Suriname by
Javanese migrants, it is part of the national cuisine of that country as well, where it is spelled saoto.[6]
History
In the
Indonesian archipelago, soto is known by different names. In the local
Javanese dialect, it is called soto, and the dish also reached
Makassar where it is called coto. Soto is found to be most prevalent in
Java, and suggested that the hearty soup was originated from that island, and over the years this dish branched off in an assorted array of soto varieties.[7]
Although soto was undoubtedly developed in the Indonesian archipelago and each region has developed its own distinctive soto recipes, some historians suggest that it was probably influenced by foreign culinary tradition, especially
HokkienChinese.
Denys Lombard in his book Le Carrefour Javanais suggested that the origin of soto was a
Hokkien Chinese soup, caudo (
Chinese: 牛草肚;
Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gû-chháu-tō͘;
lit. 'beef tripe'),[8] popular in
Semarang among
Chinese immigrants during colonial
VOC era, circa 17th century.[9]
Another scholar suggests that it was more likely a mixture of cooking traditions in the region, namely Chinese, Indian, and native Indonesian cuisine.[10] There are traces of Chinese influence such as the use of bihun (rice vermicelli) and the preference for fried garlic as a condiment, while the use of
turmeric suggests Indian influence. Another example is soto betawi from Jakarta uses minyak samin (
ghee), which indicates Arab or Muslim Indian influences.[11] Another historian suggest that some soto recipe reflects the past condition of its people. Soto tangkar, which today is a meat soup, was mostly made from the broth of goat rib-cage bones (
Betawi:tangkar) in the past because meat was expensive, or the common population of Batavia were too poor to afford some meat back then.[12] Soto recipes has been highly localized according to local tradition and available ingredients, for example in
Hindu-majority island of
Bali, soto babi (pork soto) can be found, since Hindu Balinese prefer pork while beef is seldom consumed, they also do not shared Indonesian Muslim
halal dietary law that forbid the consumption of pork.
The meat soup dish influenced various regions and each developed its own recipes, with the ingredients being highly localized according to available ingredients and local cooking traditions. As a result, rich variants of soto were developed across Indonesia.
In 2018, soto was officially recognised by the Indonesian government as one of the country's
five national dishes: the others are
nasi goreng,
sate,
rendang, and
gado-gado.[2] Also in 2018, soto is promoted in Asian Festival in
Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex during
2018 Asian Games in Jakarta as a dish that represent the diversity of Indonesia. With the theme "Unity in Diversoto" presented in the food court, visitors had the opportunity to samples various regional sotos of Indonesia, thus it has become visitors' favourite in Asian Festival during 2018 Asian Games.[13]
Varieties
The spread of soto in Indonesian archipelago was followed by the localization of Soto's recipe, according to available ingredients and distinctive local taste.[9] As the result, myriad soto recipes and variations can be found throughout Indonesia.
By regions
Some sotos are named based on the town or region where they are created:
Soto
Ambon – made of chicken and broth, flavoured and coloured with turmeric, ginger, galangal, garlic, lemongrass, and loads of spices. Served with rice, the toppings are blanched bean sprouts, shredded chicken, vermicelli, chopped celery leaves, golden fried shallots, fried potato sticks, kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), hot sauce, and potato croquettes.
Soto
Bandung – a clear beef soto that has pieces of meat, white
radish, and fried soybeans.[14]
Soto
Bangkalan or soto mera – a soto with red colour broth. It consists of beef and the intestine, and fried peanuts. It is served with slices of
lontong rice cake, sprinkled with scallions and fried shallots.[15]
Soto
Banjar – spiced with star anise, clove, cassia and
lemongrass, and sour hot
sambal, served with potato cakes.[14]
Soto
Banjarnegara or soto Krandegan – a beef soto in a yellow coconut milk soup and eaten with
ketupat.[16]
Soto
Banyumas, sroto Banyumas or sroto Sokaraja – made special by its peanut sambal, usually eaten with
ketupat.[17]
Soto
Banyuwangi or rujak soto – a beef soto with beef tripe, vegetables, peanut sauce, and beef broth.[18]
Soto
Betawi – made of beef or beef offal, cooked in a cow milk or coconut milk broth, with fried potato and tomato.[17]
Soto
Blora, or soto klethuk – there are shredded chicken, bean sprouts, vermicelli, eggs, fried onions, and the most important thing is klethuk (cassava cut into small squares, then fried until really crisp and golden brown in color)[19]
Soto
Kebumen also known as soto Tamanwinangun – a duck soto in peanut-based broth.[20]
Soto
Kudus – made with water buffalo meat due to local
taboos of the consumption of beef.
Soto
Lamongan – a popular
street food in various Indonesian metropolitan areas, a variation of the Madura soto. The dish uses koya as a condiment that is made from finely ground prawn crackers.[17]
Soto
Madura or soto Sulung/soto Ambengan – made with either chicken, beef or offal, in a yellowish transparent broth.[17]
Soto
Medan – a chicken/pork/beef/prawn/innards soto with added coconut milk and served with potato croquette (
perkedel). The meat pieces are fried before being served or mixed. The spice is similar to soto Betawi with addition of cardamom.[17]
Soto
Pacitan – chicken soto in light spicy soup, served with beansprouts, rice vermicelli, cabbages, celery, fried shallot, and fried peanuts.[22]
Soto Padang – a beef broth soto with slices of fried beef, bihun (rice vermicelli), and perkedel kentang (fried mashed potato).[21]
Soto
Pangkalan Bun or coto manggala – a chicken soto mixed with cassava.[23]
Soto
Pekalongan or tauto Pekalongan[24] – spiced with tauco (a fermented
miso-like bean paste).
Soto
Semarang – a chicken soto spiced with
candlenut, mixed with rice, perkedel, tempe, and often eaten with sate kerang (cockles on a stick) or tripes and quail eggs. One of the pioneers of Soto Semarang is Soto Bangkong, named after Bangkong crossroad in Semarang.[25]
Soto
Soloalso known as soto kwali – in Javanese and Indonesian language kwali or kuali means "cauldron". This beef brisket soto in clear beef broth soup served with beansprouts, celery and bawang goreng.[26]
Soto
Sumedang or soto bongko – a soto consists of bongko (rice cake), tofu, chayote, and bean sprouts in a coconut milk soup.[27]
Soto
Tegal or Sauto Tegal, almost same with
Pekalongan soto spiced with tauco (a fermented
miso-like bean paste). Sauto can be chicken soto, beef soto, or even beef offal.
Soto
Ungaran or soto gudangan Ungaran, a beef soto rice with veggies and grated coconut.[28]
By primary ingredient
Other sotos are named based upon their chief ingredient:
Soto babat – a cow's or goat's
tripe, served in yellow spicy coconut milk soup with
vermicelli, potato, and vegetables, usually eaten with rice. It is commonly found throughout
Indonesia.
Soto bebek – a
duck soto, specialty of
Klaten, Central Java.[33]
Soto ceker – a
chicken foot soto, served in rather clear yellowish spicy broth soup, which uses spices including shallot, garlic, lemongrass, and
turmeric that add the yellowish colour, served with of cabbage, celery, rice noodles, and garnished to taste with sambal, lime and soy.[34]Soto ceker is one of the popular
street food in Jakarta, Bali, and most of major cities in Java. In street side warung or humble restaurants, soto ceker is usually offered as a variation of soto ayam.[35]
Soto kaki (lit. "foot soto") – made of beef
cow's trotters;
tendon and
cartilage taken from cow's feet, served in yellow spicy coconut milk soup with
vermicelli, potato, vegetables, and
krupuk, commonly eaten with rice. It is a
Betawi food and can be found in
Jakarta,
Indonesia.
Soto kerbau – made of
water buffalo meat instead of beef, specialty of Kudus regency, Central Java.[17]
Soto lenthok – a specialty of
Yogyakarta which is chicken soto served with lenthok or fried mashed cassava akin to potato perkedel.[36]
Soto mi (spelled mee soto in Singapore and Malaysia) – a yellow spicy beef or chicken broth soup with noodles,[37] commonly found in
Indonesia,
Singapore, and
Malaysia.
Bogor, Indonesia, is famous for its soto mi made with beef broth, kikil (cow's cartilage), noodles, and sliced risoles spring rolls.
Soto ranjau or also known as soto tulang – chicken soto served with its bones. Ranjau in Indonesian means landmine, which actually refer to chicken bones. Usually soto are served with shredded boneless chicken meat. Soto ranjau however, is served as soup of chicken bones with some pieces of remaining meats, cartilage and skin.[38]
Soto tangkar – also Betawi specialty soto made of chopped goat or beef ribs (
Betawi:tangkar) and beef
brisket cooked in coconut milk soup spiced with turmeric, garlic, shallot, chili, pepper, candlenut, cumin, galangal, coriander, cinnamon, Indonesian bay leaf (daun salam), and kaffir lime leaf.[39]
Soto udang – use shrimps and coconut milk soup.[40]
Accompaniments
The following accompaniments are often eaten alongside soto:
The meats that are most commonly used are
chicken and
beef, but there are also variations with
offal,
mutton, and
water buffalo meat.
Pork is seldom used in traditional Indonesian soto; however, in
Hindu majority
Bali, soto babi (pork soto) can be found.[32] The soup is usually accompanied by
rice or compressed rice cakes (lontong, ketupat or burasa). Offal is considered as a delicacy: the
rumen (blanket/flat/smooth tripe),
reticulum (honeycomb and pocket tripe),
omasum (book/bible/leaf tripe), and the intestines are all eaten.
The colour, thickness and consistency of soto soup could vary according to each recipes. Soto can have a light and clear broth just like soto bandung, a yellow transparent broth (coloured with turmeric) like the one that can be found in soto ayam, or a rich and thick
coconut milk or milk broth just like those in soto kaki or soto betawi.
Soto in Malaysia and Singapore has a certain expected clear-soup look made of chicken broth, with spicy taste mixed with rice cubes.[41] It seems that soto served there derived from common soto ayam type with a clear and slightly yellow-coloured broth, pretty much similar to East Javanese soto lamongan or soto madura. Like many dishes, it may have been brought into the country by the many Javanese migrants in the early 20th century.
Gallery
Soto ayam, chicken soto in soup with turmeric and spices