Soto ayam is a chicken soup dish originated from Indonesia and is popular in Malaysia and Singapore. However, you have to take a paradigm shift to appreciate it. Unlike a creamy soup, it’s a clear soup with loads of ingredients and condiments. Turmeric is the ingredient that makes yellow, coupled with spices like cumin, fennel, star anise, and cinnamon, and there is no other chicken soup that comes close to it.

In this article, I will show you my interpretation of soto ayam,  Malaysian style. 

There is no definitive way to prepare soto ayam, so I will not claim this recipe to be authentic. However, I will break down the process so that it is easy to follow. Along the way, I will also mention which are the must-have ingredients and condiments, and the add-on items that you can consider.

The making of soto ayam is not tricky. However, it does involve a few different steps. 

1. Prepare the soup base 
2. Saute the spice mix
3. Get ready the condiments

Let’s get started.

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1. Prepare the soup base

The flavor of the soup is mainly derived from the chicken. Some cooks prefer to deep-fry the chicken first before using it to prepare the soup. It helps to create an extra layer of flavor.

• Cut the chicken to a few large chunks to make the chicken soup. I prefer to use chicken thigh over breast because it is more tender and juicer and will to become tough even simmer for a long time.
• Clean the chicken thoroughly with water. Rub in the salt and let it marinate for half a day. Most of the salt will dissolve into the broth eventually but there will still be some in the meat which makes it slightly salty.
• Deep-fry the chicken until it is brown on the outside.
• Place the chicken in a stockpot filled with water. 
• Add the following spices: cinnamon bark, star anise, bashed lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves. Seasoned with salt and pepper.
• Add the sauteed spice mix (prepared in the next section) to the broth.
• Simmer over low heat until all the flavor is extracted from the chicken. The simmering may take about 1 hour. Maintain the temperature at a bare simmer to ensure that the chicken meat ends up tender and soft. 
• Remove the chicken and filter the chicken broth through a wire mesh strainer. When the chicken is cold, shred the chicken meat into small pieces as one of the dishes’ condiments. 
• Let the chicken broth pass through a wire mesh strainer to remove the spices.

2. Prepare the spice mix

The unique flavor of soto ayam mostly comes from the spice mix. (Otherwise, It will taste just like any other chicken soup.) There are two components of the spice mix. 

The first part is the dry ingredients. I use fennel seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, white peppercorns, cardamom, and cloves. Blend these ingredients into a fine powder with a spice blender. If you are unable to get the fresh seeds, substitute with ground spices. 

The second part of the ingredients is fresh aromatics. The ingredients I use are shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, and turmeric. You may add a few candlenuts, which will make the soup more gravy-like. Blend these ingredients with two tablespoons of oil until it becomes a smooth paste.

Miix both parts in a pan and saute until aromatic. Now transfer the aromatic spice mix into the filtered chicken broth. Bring it to a boil and add a quarter cup of coconut cream to enhance the flavor.

If you find the broth is too diluted, simmer it for a while to concentrate the flavor.  Season with salt.

Now let’s move on to prepare the noodles and other condiments. 

3. Prepare the condiments

In this section, I will divide the condiments into two parts. The first part is the essential ingredients. The second part is those ingredients used by various cooks in different regions of Indonesia and Malaysia. Some of these ingredients are not readily available outside Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. 

The essential condiments

The shredded chicken meat

Important because soto ayam means chicken soup in Indonesian and Malay language. As I mentioned earlier, some cooks prefer to deep-fry the chicken, either before or after simmering. You may do so if you want an extra flavor, but I just keep it simple by simmering the chicken until tender and soft. 

The rice vermicelli, yellow noodles, compressed rice (nasi impit), and potato pancake (begedil) 

The next group of condiments is the carbohydrates. 

I am using rice vermicelli in this recipe for simplicity. It is also an ingredient that is relatively easy to get in different regions. We use rice vermicelli to prepare Singapore noodles. Another popular alternative is the yellow noodles available locally. 

There are two ways to serve the rice vermicelli. If you prefer to serve it as a noodle dish, blanch a larger portion of the rice vermicelli in boiling water until it turns soft. Place the rice vermicelli in a bowl and ladled the chicken broth on top.

If you prefer it to be one of the condiments, throw a small number of glass noodles into some hot oil in a wok. The glass noodles will expand rapidly and turn crispy. The crispiness will provide a welcoming contrast to the texture of other components. 

Note: rice vermicelli is called 米粉 in Chinese, mee hoon in Malay. It is not the same as glass noodles 冬粉. Glass noodles used in the recipe for ants climbing a tree and spring rolls.

Nasi impit is the compressor rice made by compressing the freshly cooked rice in a flat container. Cover the rice with a plastic sheet or banana leaf, then put something heavy on top to compress the rice. When the rice is cold, cut it into cubes and serve. 

Begedil (also spell as perkedel, bergedel, pegedil) is a type of local potato pancake. The shredded potato is deep-fried, mixed with spring onions, coriander leaves, egg, and sometimes minced meat. It is then formed into a ball and deep-fried.  (Please refer to the note section of the recipe card for how to make the simple begedil.)

You can choose any one of the above or a combination for the soto ayam.

The secondary condiments

Now that you have a choice to use all these ingredients or selectively. Bean sprouts and the fried shallots are two that should not be omitted. That is because the bean sprouts have a crunchy texture as opposed to the soft and tender chicken meat and the soft noodles. As for the fried shallots, it is incredibly fragrant and delicious as a crispy topping. We use fried shallots in a variety of Malaysian dishes. You can follow the instructions in my Ipoh hor fun recipe.

You can use scallion and coriander leaves or both as the garnish and flavor. I prefer coriander leaves as it has a stronger flavor, but that is entirely up to you. 

As for the red chilies, it is more for garnishing. If you want it to be spicier, you can bash a few bird’s-eye chilies and add to the soup or blend with the aromatics in the previous section. 

A hard-boiled egg is quite a standard edition to the Malaysian style soto ayam. it is also the main component of the national dish of Malaysia, nasi lemak.

To assemble the ingredients

• To serve, place the rice vermicelli in the bowl. Topped with the shredded chicken meat, bean sprouts, and hard-boiled egg. If you are serving it with nasi impit or begedil, put them on top of the rice vermicelli. 
• Ladle sufficient chicken broth into the bowl. 
• Add the fried shallots, chopped spring onions, coriander leaves, and sliced red chili.