Sop Buntut (Indonesian Oxtail Soup)

Sop Buntut. Buntut????

mmmpghrrhhh......mmmpghrrhh....mmmpghrhh...mmmpghrhh..ghee..hee..hee..hee...   That was me suppressing the giggles but failing when I saw this item on the menu at The Waterlily. It got worse when my partner asked me "hamik si sop buntut?" (What is Sop Buntut?) 

I understand the word "buntut" as "backside" as in the two bumps below your backbone (buttocks). As in the anatomical part of the body that JLo and Kim Kardashian are famous for. And as in PH slipped and fell on her "buntut". Which actually did happen. Twice at the walkway outside the shop houses near my office.

The first time was right outside the Magnum 4-D nombor ekor shop (no, I wasn't going to buy number) and the second time outside the coffee shop, right in front of the wanton mee stall. When you fall on your bum in a public place, it is obviously embarrassing. Your reaction would be to quickly get up and act cool. Which was was I did. Except that I sprung up and bolted. You have never seen me so agile and athletic-like. I have always wanted to do the 100 metre sprint anyway. The advantage of having an ample "buntut" is that it acts as a shock absorber and cushions your bum. I pity you skinny girls, you don't have built-in air bags like me.

Anyway, back to the soup. Sop Buntut is Indonesian Oxtail Soup. Here we call it Sup Ekor. So you can imagine my mirth when I see a Sop Buntut on the menu. I love oxtail soup be it Western or Asian style. Which was why after having the giggles I ordered the soup. The Sop Buntut I had at The Waterlily was very good. It was thick, hearty and very tasty. Which led to my search for a Sop Buntut recipe. Although there are similarities between Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia, I had problems with the terminology and could not fully understand the text. Luckily I found the recipe in English.

Although the soup was good, it was not the same as the one I had at Waterlily. I believe that if I had added more onions to the soup, I would have come close. I guess there are many variations of the soup and I can always adjust according to my taste. This soup will definitely be repeated!

Sop Buntut (Indonesian Oxtail Soup)
Recipe source : Daily Cooking Quest
(My notes and modifications in red)

Ingredients :
- 1 kg oxtail
- 2.5 litre water
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 cloves
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 250g carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch rounds
- some celery, thinly sliced (my addition)
- 250g potatoes, peeled and cut into 8 wedges per potato (I substituted with daikon cut into cubes)
-1 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp sugar (I omitted)
- 1 tsp ground white pepper

Grind the following into spice paste :
- 10 shallots
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger
- 1/2 onion  (In future I will add more onions)

Garnish and accompaniments
- 1 tomato, cut into small slices (I omitted)
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced
- 2 Chinese celery, thinly sliced
- 1 lime, cut into wedges (I omitted)
- Deep fried shallots

Chili Sauce (mix the following)(I omitted)
- 4 tbsp sweet soya sauce
- 4 Thai chilies, seeded and thinly sliced

Method :
1. Boil oxtail and water in a pot. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until oxtails are cooked and tender. Remove oxtail from the stock and set aside. Strain the stock to get clear broth. Return the broth and oxtails back to the pot.
(I boiled the oxtail for about 10 minutes in another pot of water to clean it and remove blood and impurities. I rinsed the oxtails and put them into another pot and added 2 litres. I brought the water to a boil and turned down the heat to simmer).
2. In a frying pan, heat oil and saute spice paste, cinnamon stick, cloves and nutmeg until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add this to the pot of oxtails.
3. Bring the oxtail and broth back to a boil. Add carrot and potatoes and season with salt, sugar and ground white pepper. Reduce heat and cook until carrot and potatoes are cooked and tender, but still quite firm, about 20 minutes. Adjust salt and sugar as needed.
4. Turn off the heat. Serve the soup with slices of tomatoes, scallion, and Chinese celery. Sprinkle the soup with some deep fried shallots. The soup is best eaten still piping hot with a bowl of steamed white rice accompanied with the chili sauce and a squeeze of lime juice.