Mee Bakso

Mee Bakso is a famous Indonesian dish which is somewhat identical with Mee Soto, only this dish has meatball instead of slices of chicken meat. Bakso or baso is Indonesian meatballs commonly made using beef. I learned to cook Mee Bakso from my mum's previous Indonesian helper and it is one of my family's favorite dish. It's relatively easy to prepare. Hope you'll enjoy it with your loved ones.

Ingredients:

1 kg egg noodle or rice vermicelli/vermicelli pasta for a healthier version. 
1 kg meat balls
2-3 liters water
200 grams sliced beef
4 large red onions
6 garlic cloves
1/2 inch ginger
1/2 inch tumeric
1 1/2 tbspns white peppercorns
1-2 stalks of leek
4-5 lime leaves
1 stalk of lemongrass
some sea salt to taste
some olive oil 

Garnish:
some chopped spring onions and chinese parsley

fried shallots
some blanched chye sim and bean sprouts 

Chilli paste:
15 red bird's eyes chillies
1/2 cup sweet soya sauce
3-4 garlic
juice of 4-5 lime




Methods:

1) Blend the red onions, garlic, ginger, tumeric, white peppercorns in a blender with a lil water added to it into a smooth paste.

2) In a pot, heat olive oil and throw in the leek, lemongrass and lime leaves. Then add in the paste and fry till fragrant. Next, add the sliced beef and cook till the beef changes color. Pour in the water and boil for about half an hour to prepare the beef broth. Add more water if necessary.

3) Lastly, add the meatballs and cook further till the meatball is cooked. For the chilli paste, blend the bird's eyes chillies, sweet soya sauce, lime juice and garlic together and set aside.

4) If you're using egg noodles, just add hot boiling water to the noodles and leave it for a few minutes to allow the noodles to cook and drain the water. The same for rice vermicelli. 

5) Serve as shown in the picture below. Enjoy the dish hot. 

Mee Bakso using egg noodles.

My healthier version using vermicelli pasta.