This week, I and my little family are having a holiday in
Jogja. During our one week trip, my husband’s aunt took us to Kebumen, a small
city in Central Java. She lives there.
Since i haven’t got the chance to write for English Friday
Challenge last week, so I decided to write about one of my favorite food in
Kebumen.
It is Soto Pak Kored.
At first, i thought this soto would be similar to soto in
general: greenish yellow soup, served with white noodle, bean sprout, sliced
cabbage, and sometimes carrot (it is different in every region). For you who
don’t know soto, it is an Indonesian traditional soup which is made from
chicken or beef broth, served with beef or chicken chunks, vegetables such as
cabbage, bean sprout, carrot, tomato, and extra topping like vermicelli or
white noodle, half boiled egg, and fried onion.
Indonesia has many kinds of soto according to the region,
such as Soto Lamongan, Soto Betawi, or Soto Banjar. Since the main ingredients
are turmeric, ginger, garlic, shallot, and hazelnut (kemiri), it has yellowish
color. Soto Pak Kored, has brownish soup. I can say it is almost black.
There’s nothing special about the look and the smell, but
when I tasted it I suddenly fell in love. The reason was because I like
everything sweet, and this soto is sweet! The sweetness reminds me of a small-bowl
soto sulung in Magelang.
In one bowl, Soto Pak Kored only contains of chunky beef,
bean sprout, ketupat (rice cake) and fried onions. However, it tastes really
good and rich in flavor. Oh ya, if you like to squeeze some lime on your soto,
you’ll be disappointed. They don’t serve lime, but they have chilli sauce instead. It is okay for me since
I like to taste the original flavor of dishes without adding chilli or sweet
soy sauce.
After finished eating, I went to their kitchen to take a
picture of ready-to-serve soto because mine was gone before I took the picture,
haha.. I didn’t ask for the recipe, though. I’m afraid it would be something
confidential. So, I only had some shots and went back to the dining area: an
L-shape porch of a javanese traditional house.
Are you interested to go there? It is only 15 minutes away
from Suwuk Beach or Petanahan Beach in Kebumen, or 17 km from the city center. So,
don’t forget to put Soto Pak Kored: Asli Petanahan (originally from Petanahan)
in your culinary trip wishing list.
