Empal Gentong – Beef Soup Recipe from Cirebon
Empal Gentong is a signature beef soup from Cirebon, Indonesia. The dish is similar to a curry, as it features tender cuts of beef cubes in a golden, coconut milk-infused broth.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoon cooking oil
- 2 lemongrass, bruised (here’s how to prepare lemongrass)
- 2 cloves
- 1 kilogram beef brisket or other beef cuts for stew, bite sizes
- 1500 ml (6 cup) beef stock/water
- 200 ml (~1/2 can) coconut milk
- 3 tablespoon sweet soy sauce
- 2 kaffir lime leaves
For the spice paste
- 100 gram shallot
- 4 cloves garlic
- 5 candlenut
- 1 fresh turmeric, or 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
For the garnishes
- thinly sliced scallions
- chili sauce
- deep-fried shallots
- lime juice
- Kerupuk
- Rice or ketupat (rice cakes)
Instructions
- In a large pot, Heat cooking oil in a soup pot and stir fry spice paste, lemongrass, and cloves until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the beef into the pot, and cook until the meat is tender and no longer pink.
- Add the spices to the beef broth and stir until combined.
- Pour in the coconut milk and simmer until the soup is fragrant and savory. Turn off the heat.
- Pour the beef stock (or water) and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 1 hour, or until the meat is fully cooked and tender.
- Add the coconut milk, kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), and kaffir lime leaves. Stir and bring to a boil again. Once it boils, immediately turn off the heat.
- To serve, arrange rice cakes (ketupat) in a bowl (regular rice works too). Add a few slices of Empal Gentong meat and pour over the broth. Sprinkle scallions, and fried shallots on top, and serve with crackers and lime slices. ENJOY!
Notes
Tip: feel free to add a mixture of beef offal such as tripe, intestines, lungs, and liver, if you’d like.
To quickly tenderize the meat, you can also pressure cook it for 15 minutes with the spices in step 1 instead of boiling it.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!