Indonesian Beef Ball Soup with Bone Marrow
By Pete Evans
Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 20 minutes (plus 30 minutes marinating time)
Cooking Time: 20 minutes (plus 30 minutes marinating time)
Ingredients:
Beef Meatballs
1 tablespoon, coconut oil, duck fat, tallow or other good quality fats
2 clove garlic, minced
¼ brown onion, finely chopped
500 g grass-fed beef mince
2 tablespoons tapioca flour
1 ½ tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
Beef Broth
1.3 lt beef stock (see recipe)
2-inch piece ginger, cut into large pieces
2 cinnamon sticks
4 cardamom pods
5 whole cloves
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons lime juice
Sea salt and ground white pepper, to taste
700 g beef marrow bones, cut into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces
1 carrot, thinly sliced and cut into 3 mm strips
¼ baby Chinese cabbage (about 120 g), trimmed
2 baby bok choy, trimmed
1 bunch broccolini, trimmed and cut in half
To Serve
1 handful picked coriander, to serve
Chilli flakes, to serve (optional)
Method:
To make the meatballs: heat a frying pan with the coconut oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened (3 minutes), then add the garlic and continue to cook for a further minute. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely. Place the remaining ingredients in a food processor with the cooked garlic and onions, plus 2 tablespoons of water. Pulse a few times until blended to a smooth
texture. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
To make the broth: pour the beef stock into a large saucepan. Add the ginger, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods and cloves. Bring to the boil over high heat then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. While the broth is simmering, blanch the bok choy, Chinese cabbage and broccolini in the simmering stock in separate batches for 1 –2 minutes or until tender.
Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate until needed. Pop out the marrow from the bones and slice the bone marrow into 1 cm thick pieces and set aside.
To form the meatballs, roll 1 tablespoon of the meat mixture between the palms of your hands, to form 3 cm (1¼ inch) balls. Set aside and repeat until you’ve used all the meat.
When the stock has simmered for 30 minutes, scoop out the spices and ginger and discard. Continue to simmer the stock and drop the meatballs into the soup broth for 2 minutes until slightly undercooked, then add
the bone marrow and cook for a further minute until the meatballs and bone marrow have cooked through. Gently stir in the fish sauce and lime juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide the blanched vegetables and carrots into serving bowls. Ladle the broth over the meatballs and bone marrow. Garnish with coriander leaves and sprinkle some chilli flakes over the top if desired. Serve.