Bakso Bulat seperti Bola Pingpong [ Beef Meatball Soup ]

Ingredients for the meatball dough :

500gr Minced beef meat
4 garlic cloves (pasted or finely chopped)
1 tsp white pepper
1 egg
2 tsp salt
4 tbs  tapioca powder
5 gr Baking Powder (optional)
¼ Tsp of nutmeg powder
10 ice cubes  or 150ml ICE water (depends on the elasticity of the dough, you can add some more when it needed)

1. Put all the ingredients into the food processor with chopping blade. turn on the processor on medium speed. (patient is the key!!... don`t try to accelerate the blending process by rising the speed since the faster it is, the hotter it gets inside the processor. This heat will make the dough uneven and we don`t want that).
2. Add in the ice cube, one cube at a time. At this point you have to closely watch your dough, make sure your dough has a nice consistency, not too watery but not to dry as well. Perhaps you will need more then the suggested cubes amount or maybe, you need less. This will determine how chewwy your balls will be.
3. Take the dough out and mix it again with your hand, this way you can get the feeling of the right consistency.

4. Prepare 2 pans of water, one for boiling, one set aside and fill with cold water.

5. Make little balls out of the dough and throw it in the boiling water. I didnt use any mold, I used my hand. Its a bit messy but its worth the hassle. The way I do it is I took a handfull of the dough, and squirt it out from my thumb-index finger opening then I scoop it out with a spoon.
6. The ball float when they are ready. Pick them up and throw them into the cold water pan. This will stop the cooking process.
7. Once they are cold enough, drain and set aside.

Ingredients for the Broth :

A bundle of celery ( about 10 stalks)
3 stalks of  green onion
1 peeled carrot
3 clove buds
½ tsp nutmeg powdered
A pinch of white pepper
A pinch of salt
2 or 3 pieces of beef bone (you can buy this cheaply from your butcher)
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1½ liter of water

1. Boil them all together in a big pan.
2. Once its boiled, take out the bones, carrot, cellery and green onion.
3. At this point, you are almost done!
4. Bowl the meatballs and the broth.

Et voila! Your bakso bulat seperti bola pingpong is ready to serve!

PS: We can add boiled noodle too, in my case, I used boiled vermicelli. Sprinkle finely chopped celery or fried shallot, but these are optional. Usually everyone like to add some tastes on their meatballs soup, you can add some Ketjap or even Sriracha or Sambal Oelek to give some kick. If you have some leftover meatballs, you can freeze it and it will be ready to be thrown in at any kind of soup or even spaghetti sauce!

PS: if you want to freeze the leftover meatballs, make sure to drain it and spread it on a flat tray then freeze it. This is to prevent the balls to stick together when it froze. After their properly froze, put it in a container.

Now you must be asking why do we need the ice cubes or ice water for the dough. The reason is because meat proteins are very sensitive to heat, and mixing it with a fast-turning blade can make the cute protein to cook which will make your dough uneven. So to keep this protein relax, we use the the ice cube or ice water to keep the temperature inside your processor cool.

Selamat mencoba!!