Recipes from around the world: Bakwan Malang (Indonesian Meatball Soup)

Hi there! I hope you are well!

For today’s post, I’m going to walk you through a dish common on the streets of Indonesia called Bakwan Malang (also sometimes referred to as Bakso Malang). This dish is featured in my novel, Eteka: Rise of the Imamba in a very interesting scene that I set in this region, so I highly recommend you get the novel to dig in!

Indonesia is a very interesting region. With over 18,000+ islands in its archipelago, it is a state made up of a wide variety of ethnic groups, and as such has a very diverse cuisine that varies by region. Bakwan Malang is a dish native to the East Java Province in Indonesia. It is a very common dish that is sold by many street vendors in Jakarta. Below is a video to illustrate my point:

Some formalities before we get to the recipe:

*Bakwan in East Java commonly refers to fried wontons with filling (filling consists of mixture of ground meat or fish/shrimp with flour, wrapped in wonton skin and fried). For a healthier alternative, in the recipe below the wontons will be cooked with the soup to avoid frying.

*Bakso refers to beef meatballs. For the meatballs, you can use any meat you prefer.

*Malang is the name of a city in East Java.

So, without further ado, let’s get to how to make this tasty dish:

Ingredients (Wontons):

1/2 pound boneless pork loin, coarsely chopped

2 ounces peeled shrimp, finely chopped

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon finely chopped green onion

1 tablespoon chinese rice wine

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger root

1.8 cup finely chopped green onion

Wonton wrappers

Preparation (Wontons):

1. In a large bowl, combine pork, shrimp, sugar, wine, soy sauce, 1 teaspoon chopped green onion and ginger. Blend well, and let stand for 25 to 30 minutes.

2. Place about one teaspoon of the filling at the center of each wonton skin. Moisten all 4 edges of wonton wrapper with water, then pull the top corner down to the bottom, folding the wrapper over the filling to make a triangle. Press edges firmly to make a seal. Bring left and right corners together above the filling. Overlap the tips of these corners, moisten with water and press together. Continue until all wrappers are used. Place filled wontons to the side.

Ingredients (Bakso/Meatballs):

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork or chicken
• 4 tablespoons tapioca starch
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2-inch piece ginger or galangal, grated (1/4 tsp ground ginger okay)
• 1/4 cup water

Ingredients (Soup):

• 1 cup beef broth
• 1-inch piece ginger or galangal (left whole)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 black cardamom pods
• 4 whole cloves
• 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• salt to taste (about 2 teaspoons)

Suggested accompaniments:

• 1 pound Chinese cabbage (choy sum or kai lan), washed and cut into 2″ lengths
• 2 carrots, julienned
• chopped cilantro to garnish

Preparation (Bakso/Meatballs and Soup):

1. Mix all of the beef ball ingredients together with your hands, then transfer to a food processor. Process the meat until bright pink, finely mixed, and somewhat tacky in texture. Stop the processor every minute and scrape down the sides with a spatula. Transfer the meat paste to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and put in the fridge for at least four hours, or overnight if you’d like.

2. Bring a pot of water to boil, then reduce heat until it is gently simmering. Wet your hands, then grab some of the meat in one hand; squeeze the meat through your thumb and index finger, then scoop away the ball with a spoon and gently drop into the water. Once the ball starts to float, let it simmer for 2 more minutes then fish it out and place it in a bowl of ice water. Check your first meatball or two to make sure they’re cooked through. Repeat this procedure with all of the meat; it’s easiest if you have someone making the balls while someone else monitors the balls for doneness and fishes them out. Once all of the balls are cooked and in the ice bath, strain and rinse them gently with cold water. At this point, your beef balls are done — enjoy them right away or freeze/refrigerate for later use. If you want to enjoy them immediately, proceed to step 3.

3. Spoon out any fat or chunks from the water you used to boil the beef balls — it’s going to be the soup base. Add the beef broth, ginger/galangal, cinnamon stick, black cardamom pods, and whole cloves. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to marry, then fish out the ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves (alternatively, you could put them in a tea bag or cheesecloth and pull it out). Add the fish sauce, lime juice, white pepper, and add salt to taste.

4. Add the Chinese cabbage and blanch for 30 seconds, then add to the soup bowls. Do the same with the carrots, but blanch them for only 10 seconds. Add the beef balls and wonton pieces to the soup and return to a simmer (2 mins).

5. Scoop the soup + meatballs + wonton pieces into the soup bowls, garnish with cilantro and serve!

Note: You can serve the soup with any additional treats you like (spring rolls, dried or fried fish, shrimp etc).

Enjoy!

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