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Coto Makassar
Beef and peanut soup
Coto Makassar — peppery beef soup thickened with ground roasted peanuts
Before the sun is fully up over Makassar's harbour, coto warungs are already serving dockers and office workers alike from huge clay-coloured pots. This South Sulawesi soup is thick, brown and opaque, its body coming from roasted peanuts ground almost to flour and simmered into a broth made with the cloudy water from rinsing rice. Diced beef (and traditionally offal) sits in a nutty, cumin-and-pepper broth that's eaten with diamond-shaped ketupat rice cakes broken into the bowl, plus lime and a spoon of chilli. Chef's tip: grind the cooled peanuts in short bursts and stop while they're still sandy; a few seconds too long and you get peanut butter that turns the soup claggy.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the beef
- 1 ¾ lb beef brisket or shinin one or two pieces
- 10 ½ oz beef tripe or liver (optional)cleaned; tripe bought ready-blanched
- 10 ½ cups rice-rinsing waterthe cloudy water from rinsing rice 2–3 times, or plain water
- 3 Indonesian bay leaves (daun salam) (optional)
For the paste
- 3 ½ oz raw peanutsskinned
- 6 shallotspeeled
- 6 cloves garlicpeeled
- 1 ⅛ in galangalsliced
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp white peppercorns
- 2 stalks lemongrassbruised
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp palm sugar
To serve
- 1 ⅓ lb ketupat or lontong rice cakesor steamed rice
- 3 spring onionssliced
- 2 limescut into wedges
- 3 tbsp fried shallots (optional)
- 4 tbsp chilli sambal (optional)
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Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Put 1 ¾ lb beef brisket or shin (and 10 ½ oz beef tripe or liver, if using) in a large pot, cover with water and bring to the boil over a high heat. Boil for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse off the scum. Use a separate board for raw meat.
8 minStep 2: Return the meat to the clean pot with 10 ½ cups rice-rinsing water and 3 Indonesian bay leaves (daun salam). Bring to the boil, skim, then simmer gently, half covered, for 75 minutes until a skewer slides into the beef easily.
75 minStep 3: Meanwhile, toast 3 ½ oz raw peanuts in a dry frying pan over a medium-low heat for 6–8 minutes, shaking often, until evenly golden. Cool completely.
8 minStep 4: Grind the cooled peanuts in short pulses until they look like coarse sand. Stop before they clump into butter.
Step 5: Blend 6 shallots, 6 cloves garlic, 1 ⅛ in galangal, 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp white peppercorns with a splash of water to a smooth paste.
3 minStep 6: Heat 3 tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the paste with 2 stalks lemongrass for 6–8 minutes until fragrant and golden and the oil separates.
8 minStep 7: Lift out the cooked beef and offal and cut into 1.5 cm cubes. Stir the fried paste, ground peanuts, 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp palm sugar into the broth.
5 minStep 8: Simmer for 15 minutes over a low heat, stirring the bottom often because the peanuts like to catch, until the soup is thick, opaque and coats the spoon. Return the meat and heat through.
15 minStep 9: Put pieces of 1 ⅓ lb ketupat or lontong rice cakes in each bowl, ladle over the soup and finish with 3 spring onions and 3 tbsp fried shallots. Serve with 2 limes and 4 tbsp chilli sambal.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 540 kcal
- Protein
- 38 g
- Carbs
- 40 g
- Fat
- 25 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does coto Makassar take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 90 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of shallots?
- Half an onion per 2 shallots.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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