Sup Merah (Indonesian Tomato Soup)

What should i cook for today? Let see. I have 2 chicken thighs, some carrot, some celery, some champignon, 1/2 can of canned sausages, and 1 can diced tomatoes. I think i can make 1 big pot of Sup Merah out of them. What is  sup merah ?

Sup Merah (Red soup) or Indonesian Tomato soup is one of popular soup dish from Indonesia, especially onEast Java. It is an Indonesian dish with a little bit of Western touch. We call it red soup (merah = red) because the soup has a reddish color. My mother and my grandmother used to make this soup especially for special occasion such as birthday or new year. I'm glad they gave me the recipe and taught me how to make it. The original recipe is complicated and takes a lot of time. I need to fry a lot of shallot, pre-boil all the tomatoes, crush them and remove all the seeds and peel the skin. I still remember sometimes my grandmother grated the tomatoes to get its juice for a big pot of soup. This time i'm going to make sup merah using my family recipe but with some small modification just to simplify the process.

Ingredients :

• 150 grams fried shallot
• 2 Roasted chicken thighs 
• 200 grams carrots, diced
• 100 grams celery, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 125 grams champignon mushroom, sliced
• 1 can (400 grams) diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 100 grams frozen peas
• 6 sticks canned sausages, sliced
• 3-4 tbs tomato sauce
• 2 bouillon blocks
• 2 ltr water
• 1 bay leaves
• 2 tsp sugar

Preparation : 

1. In a big pot, preheat 2-3 tbs oil.
2. Saute diced onion, celery, carrots until a bit tender.
3. Add sliced champignon mushrooms, saute again until the mushrooms are cooked.
4. Add roasted chicken into the pot.
5. Add water, ground nutmeg, bouillon block, bay leave, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, sugar, and fried shallot into the pot.
6. Let it boiled. 
7. Reduce the heat, and simmer on low-medium heat for about 20 min.
8. Remove the chicken from the pot, let it cool for a bit.
9. Separate bones from the meat, and put the chicken meat back into the pot.
10. Add sliced sausages and frozen peas into the pot.
11. Add salt and pepper.
12. Simmer again on low- medium heat for another 15 min
13. Adjust the taste if needed.

Tip : Fried shallot will add sweetness of the soup. I explain how to make it on other post. If you want to avoid this process or too lazy to make fried shallot, just saute the shallot in the pot until translucent before adding onion and the other vegetables into the pot. Do not use fried shallot that you can buy in Asian store unless you're sure they are not coated with flour. The flour will make the soup taste and look bad.

 One big pot of sup merah  is ready. 

I usually eat the soup with hot steamed rice and fried shallot or fried onion as condiments. Toasted bread or crouton is a perfect companion for this soup as well. The most important thing is serve this soup hot. :)

After one day, i still have some leftover soup on my pot. I decided to make a pot pie. 

I put the soup into a small ramekin dish, cover it up with puff pastry, make a hole in the middle of puff pastry, and brush the pastry with egg wash. Put it into preheated oven (190 C) for about 20 min. After the pastry become crispy and golden brown, remove the dish from the oven, let it cool for about 10 min.

Let's start digging. :)

Why did I use roasted chicken? 

Thanks to Chef John. I found his video on youtube about roasted chicken broth. I tried it once for making chicken soup, and it really changed the taste of the soup. It became much more tasty and savory. Since then I always use roasted chicken broth for my soup. I didn't exactly follow the original recipe, but it still great.

I highly recommend to roast the chicken if you want a fatty and a little bit heavy soup. But if you prefer a light soup, just directly boil the chicken. No need to roast the chicken before.

Ingredients :

• 2 Chicken thighs
• 1 clove of garlic, peel and pressed.
• 1 cup mix of diced carrot, celery, and onion.
• 4 tbs Olive oil
• Salt, and black pepper

Preparation : 

1. Preheat the oven 210 C (410 F).
2. Put the chicken into an oven proof dish. 
3. Put mixed vegetables and garlic all around the chicken.
4. Add some olive oil on the top of the chicken.
5. Sprinkle generous amount of salt and black pepper
   
6. Put the chicken into the oven and roast it for about 40-45 min.