Washington. President Barack Obama carried a message of unity and tolerance during his visit last week to Indonesia, but it was his love of meatball soup that made for worldwide headlines.
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This file photo shows bakso, an Indonesian soup, which has piqued
global interest since US President Barack Obama professed his love
for the dish. Bakso is a savory soup that includes meatballs, noodles
and other seasonal ingredients. (AP Photo/Larry Crowe) |
"Bakso, nasi goreng ... semuanya enak!'' or "Meatball soup, fried rice ... it's all delicious!" Obama said during a state dinner in Jakarta.
The president spent four years of his childhood in Indonesia.
Bakso, a savory soup of meatballs and noodles often garnished with bok choy, wontons, tofu, crisp fried shallots and hard-boiled egg, is a go-to dish sold from pushcarts to hungry students, midnight revelers and just about anybody who wants a satisfying snack any time of day.
"When people hang out at night and they feel hungry, they go for bakso," says Djoko Supatmono, executive chef at Satay Junction, an Indonesian restaurant in New York.
Like many dishes that bubble up through the masses, bakso has endless variations.
The meatballs — which vary in size from golf balls to tennis balls — can be made with beef, chicken, pork or even fish.
Ditto for the stock. The noodles can be made from mung bean starch, rice or wheat.
"This soup takes on many guises, but it always has meatballs, it always has noodles, it always has broth,'' says Ken Woytisek, chef instructor in Asian cuisines at the Culinary Institute of America's St. Helena campus.
"It's really a multicultural society, so there are lots of variations. But it's mainly the meat in the meatball that changes.''
Like most street food, bakso has an air of mystery.
The soup and the noodles probably originated in China, but the meatball, Woytisek says, may have come from the Dutch, who colonized Indonesia in the 19th century.
And then there is the fact that it is street food.
"While it's generally accepted that meat, in some form, is involved in the balls, the rest is unclear,'' says James Oseland, editor-in-chief of Saveur magazine, and author of "Cradle of Flavor: Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.''
"Frankly, I don't know what goes into them, and probably we're better off not knowing. It's like the hot dog.''
Meatball soups are found throughout southeast Asia, but aficionados like Oseland especially prize bakso.
"The Indonesian version really does tend to be the king, the real granddaddy of all of the southeast Asian beef ball brethren,'' he says.
"It's the whole idea of Asian beef balls taken to a higher realm. They're just better tasting.''
Even Indonesians split hairs, however. "People will take you to task if you say `I really like this vendor,' '' Woytisek says.
"They'll say 'No, no! You have to go this vendor.' They never tire of arguing over who's got the best.''
But what are the criteria? Al dente noodles and perfect meatballs.
"What makes a great bakso is a springy versus rubbery ball,'' Oseland says.
"And there's some sort of gentle spicing. There's always this perfect balance between the spicing and the meat that separates the good ones from the mediocre."
Associated Press
