Bakso Bakwan Malang

This dish originated from the city town of Malang, hence the name.  

And what makes this dish different from other meatball-vermicelli soups (bakso bihun) is the variety of toppings that you get with it - the stuffed tofu, dim sums and fried wontons.  So good!

I personally have never been to Malang, but lucky for me, it is widely available in Jakarta.  You will find street food vendors pushing their carts around the neighbourhood or parked on the side of busy roads.

Sadly though, it is not that easy to find this in Sydney. 

So when i was craving for this a few weeks ago, i just had to make it!

Traditionally, you would make the beef balls from scratch.  But since there are many good brands available here, i just went and bought mine from the store.

Yes, it did take some time to make this but it is definitely worth it!

Bakso Bakwan Malang

Ingredients:

Beef Stock

• 750 gr beef bones
• 4 litres water
• 15 beef balls
• 16 garlic cloves, bashed
• 4 eschallots, finely chopped
• 5 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp fish sauce (optional)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce (optional)

Meat Filling

• 400 gr chicken mince
• 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 spring onions, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp corn starch
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Chilli Sauce

• 2 big red chillies
• 3 garlic cloves
• 10 birds eye chillies
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup water

Toppings

• Fried firm tofu, cut into 12 triangles
• 40 wonton skins
• 500 gr rice vermicelli
• Oil for deep frying
• 2 spring onion, finely chopped
• Kecap manis, to taste
• Fried eschallots

Methods:

Make your stock:

1. Trim excess fat off your beef bone.
2. Soak in boiling hot water for 15 minutes.  Then rinse under cold running water and set aside.
3. In a big pot, sautee your garlic and eschallot until fragrant on medium high heat.
4. Add in your beef bone and brown it on all sides.
5. Add in your water and your seasoning. Turn up the heat to high and bring it up to a boil for 10 minutes.
6. Then turn down the heat and simmer for 3 hours.  You can prepare the other toppings in the mean time.
7. After 3 hours, adjust your seasoning to taste. 
8. Make criss-cross cuts on the beef balls. Add them into your stock and bring it up to a boil for 10 minutes.

Make your meat filling:

1. In a big bowl, combine all the ingredients for your meat filling and mix well.

Make your stuffed tofu:

1. Carve out a small section on the longest side of your tofu triangles.
2. Stuff each tofu with 1 teaspoon of the meat filling.  Make sure that you really press it in and smooth out the edges so that the filling does not fall off when steamed.
3. Steam for 25 minutes.

Make your dim sums:

1. Wrap 1 teaspoon of meat filling in each wonton skin, dabbing a bit of water to ensure the skin sticks on.
2. Make 20 dim sums.
3. Steam for 25 minutes.

Make your fried wontons:

1. Take a 1/4 teaspoon of the meat filling and place it in one corner of the wonton skin.
2. Dab a bit of water and fold the corner inward, enclosing the filling in a small triangle. 
3. Make another fold inward, enclosing the filling once again.
4. Dab a bit of water along your last fold.
5. Take each side of the fold towards each other, then overlap them in the middle. Press to ensure they stick to each other.
6. Make 20 wontons.
7. Deep fry on medium heat until golden brown.  Make sure you keep flipping them around to have an even browning.
8. Once done, drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

Make your chilli sauce:

1. Place your chillies and garlic in a pot with a cup of water.  Bring it up to a boil for 10 minutes.
2. After 10 minutes, drain the chillies and garlic, leaving 1/2 cup of the water in the pot.
3. Grind the chillies and garlic in a food processor without any water into a paste. 
4. Put your paste back into the pot along with 1/2 cup of water and cook for 5 minutes.

Prepare your rice vermicelli:

1. Soak in cold water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Time to assemble:

1. In a bowl, place your vermicelli.
2. Add your stuffed tofu, dim sums and beef balls.
3. Pour in your hot stock
4. Add kecap manis to taste.
5. Sprinkle with chopped spring onions and fried eschallots.
6. Serve with chilli sauce on the side.

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