Around the World In 80 Foods....Indonesian Soto Betawi (Beef Coconut Soup) with Chinese Steamed Brown Rice Buns

Enjoy this complete Asian meal of Beef Coconut Soup from Jakarta, Indonesia, with a side of yummy, chewy buns from China, hand delivered to me by my good friend and book character, Mae Li Xing!

For the Soto Betawi Soup, you will need: 

1 1/2 lb. to 2 lb. cooked, canned beef

6-8 cups beef broth

2 cans lite coconut milk

5 dried kaffir lime leaves

3-4 Tbsp. oil

1 1" piece of ginger, minced or grated fine

5 large garlic cloves, minced

1 small serrano pepper or two small dried red chili peppers (such as cayenne), chopped fine

2 small to medium red onions, chopped fine

3/4 tsp. white pepper

Himalayan pink salt to taste

1/4 cup slivered almonds, crushed

In a large stockpot, combine the beef, broth, milk, leaves, pepper and salt. In a large frying pan, heat the oil and saute the ginger, garlic, onion and hot pepper until soft and translucent and add to the beef and liquid. Stir in the pepper and salt and heat to desired temperature. Crush or chop the slivered almonds fine and stir in about 5-10 minutes before serving.

For the buns, you will need: 

1 cup brown rice flour

2 cups white unbleached flour

1 heaping Tablespoon yeast

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup nonfat dry milk

1 cup hot water (120-130 degrees F)

1 Tbsp. shortening

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

Combine all of the dry ingredients and 2 cups of flour in a bowl, EXCEPT the baking powder. form a well in the center and drop in the shortening, then pour in the hot water. Allow the shortening to melt and then stir all together. Combing the remaining cup of flour with the baking powder and stir in. Knead with your hands for about 10 minutes, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise about 45 minutes. Place water in the bottom of a a metal steamer and bring to a boil. Uncover your dough, punch down and divide into 12 equal pieces, rolling into balls between the palms of both hands. Place wax paper in the rack above the boiling water (note, you usually only need one level or rack in your steamer, depending on the size and whether you use a metal or bamboo steamer. For this recipe, I used a metal steamer) and puncture holes in the wax paper to let the steam up. Place the buns evenly spaced around the rack, and then PLACE A TEA TOWEL BETWEEN THE RACK IN WHICH YOU HAVE YOUR BUNS AND THE LID. This will help keep steam in and prevent condensation. Steam the buns 20 minutes exactly, and serve hot with your soup. Please note, the buns will be VERY hot just after steaming, so allow to cool a few minutes and handle with care! Enjoy!