Singgang Tulang Lembu (Kelantan Beef Ribs Soup)

I really did not know what to expect when I set out to cook Singgang Tulang Lembu. This recipe comes from Azie Kitchen and being a beef lover I figured that maybe, just maybe I might like this soup. Looking at the ingredients, there are some aromatics used such as lengkuas (galangal), ginger and corriander seeds. But still, as this is the first time I will be tasting Singgang Tulang, I was apprehensive but as they say, never try, never know.

Azie's recipe does not provide amounts of ingredients used and this is understandable. As home cooks, we rely on "agak-agak" (estimates) and it is really quite tedious if we set out to measure our ingredients. So what I did was use a bit of imagination when I cooked this soup.

The coriander seeds will sink to the bottom once the soup is cooked.

This is quite an easy soup to cook. Everything is put into the pot and boiled until the beef is tender. I should have put the coriander seeds into a muslin bag as it would make it easier to remove. But since most of the seeds sank to the bottom of the pot, I can just avoid scooping the last bits of the soup.

I couldn't get meaty beef ribs so I just made do with frozen beef bones. There's some meat on it and the amount is just nice. What I did was to boil the beef bones first to clean it from blood and scum. Then I rinsed it before boiling it together with the other ingredients.

I was a bit careless and scooped up the coriander seeds at the bottom of the pot.

As the soup simmered, the aroma of lengkuas, ginger and coriander wafted through my kitchen. It was a very pleasant smell and I was somewhat assured that this soup would be good.

Not an attractive looking soup but has very robust flavors.

It took about 2 and a half hours for the beef to become tender. When I tasted the soup, wow, very nice flavours! It reminded me of another soup which is Sup Bunjut. I kept some of the soup and reheated it the next day and the soup tasted even better. The aromas of the lengkuas, ginger and coriander had fully penetrated the meat and there was none of the usual beefy smell. I was very happy that the soup turned out very well. If I cook this again, I guess there is no harm if I added carrots and potatoes.

Singgang Tulang Lembu

Recipe source : Adapted from Azie Kitchen

- 1.2kb beef bones/beef ribs

- 10 shallots, sliced

- 4 cloves garlic, sliced

- 1.5 inch lengkuas/galangal, sliced

- 1.5 inch old ginger, sliced

- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, lightly crushed (put in muslin cloth if preferred)

- 1 piece asam keping/asam gelugor

- 5 dried chillies, washed (no need to soak)

- 1 liter water or more

- Salt and seasoning to taste (I used Maggi all purpose seasoning only)

Method :

1. To clean the beef ribs, rinse and boil for about 10 minutes.

2. Drain and rinse the beef ribs.

3. Put the ribs and all other ingredients except salt/seasoning into pot.

4. Bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer.

5. Simmer for about 2 to 3 hours until beef is tender.

6. Season to taste.

I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest Kelantan Month hosted by Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets.