Bakso

About This Recipe

Bakso is Indonesia's beloved meatball soup, a dish with Chinese-Indonesian roots — the name comes from the Hokkien for 'shredded meat' — that has become utterly Indonesian, hawked from pushcarts (gerobak) on virtually every street in the archipelago. The signature is the meatball itself: beef pounded or processed with tapioca starch and ice until springy, giving the characteristic bouncy, almost snappy bite that distinguishes bakso from a Western meatball. The balls poach in a clear, garlicky beef broth and arrive over noodles with bok choy, fried shallots, and egg, ready to be customized at the table with sambal, sweet soy, and vinegar. Even President Obama famously praised it on a 2010 visit to Jakarta.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 500 gground beef
• 3 tbsptapioca starch
• 2 clovesgarlic, minced
• 1 tbspginger, grated
• 1 tspsalt
• 1/2 tspwhite pepper
• 8 cupsbeef broth
• 2 stalksgreen onion
• 1 clovegarlic
• 1 tbspginger slice
• 300 gegg noodles, cooked
• 200 gbok choy
• 4hard-boiled eggs, halved
• 2 tbspsoy sauce

Instructions

1. 1

   Make meatballs

   Beat the ground beef with tapioca starch, garlic, ginger, salt, and white pepper until the mixture turns pale, sticky, and paste-like — 3–4 minutes in a food processor with a few ice cubes is ideal. Roll into 2cm balls with wet hands, or squeeze the mixture through your fist and scoop with a spoon, vendor-style.

   Keeping the mixture ice-cold and working it until tacky is what creates bakso's signature bouncy texture.

2. 2

   Make broth

   Bring the beef broth to a boil with the green onion, garlic clove, ginger slice, and soy sauce, then lower to a steady simmer for 10 minutes so the aromatics infuse. Taste and adjust salt — the broth should be clean and savory, not heavy.

3. 3

   Cook meatballs

   Slide the meatballs into the simmering (not furiously boiling) broth in batches and poach about 20 minutes. They will sink first, then float when nearly done; give them a few extra minutes after floating to cook through to the center.

   A hard boil roughens the surface of the meatballs — keep the broth at a gentle simmer for smooth, springy balls.

4. 4

   Assemble

   Blanch the bok choy in the broth for the final minute. Divide the cooked noodles among bowls, top each with meatballs, bok choy, and egg halves, ladle over the hot broth, and finish with fried shallots, celery leaves, and sambal on the side.

Variations

• •

  Bakso urat: fold finely chopped beef tendon into the mixture for chewy, gelatinous texture.

• •

  Bakso telur: wrap the meat paste around a peeled boiled quail egg before poaching.

• •

  Use fish or chicken instead of beef for a lighter version of the meatballs.

• •

  Add fried wontons, tofu puffs, or mushrooms to the bowl for variety, mie-ayam-stall style.

Storage

Cooked meatballs keep 3 days in the refrigerator submerged in broth, and freeze beautifully for 2 months — freeze them on a tray first, then bag. Store noodles separately and cook fresh per bowl.

Frequently Asked Questions