Sop Konro [ Celebes Beef Rib Soup ]

I must admit this soup is the longest-cooking-time soup I ever made, but it was totally worth it! The ribs were so tender and the broth was so tasty. 

Ingredients:

1 Kg of beef ribs, rinsed well

2 Liter of water

2 Tsp tamarin paste

5 Salam leaves (Indonesian bay leaf)

1 Tbsp beef broth powder

½ Tbsp brown sugar

1Tsp cinnamon powder

5 cloves

3 cardamom pods

2 lemongrass
1 Scallion, chopped
Fried shallot to sprinkle on top on serving

Paste:

2 Keluwak nuts 

5 Candle nuts

6 Shallots

4 garlic cloves

¼ Tsp cumin powder

1 Tsp white pepper powder

1 Tsp nutmeg powder

2 Tsp coriander

1 Tsp tumeric powder

3 cm ginger

oil

1. Using an electronic chopper, put Keluwak, Candle nuts, shallots, garlic, cumin, white pepper, nutmeg, coriander, tumeric ad ginger, then make it into paste.
2. Once your paste is ready, sautée it with oil till it fragrants.
3. Get your slowcooker ready, put in the ribs, water, tamarin paste, salam leaves, broth powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and lemongrass. Put the paste mixture as well and mix all together.
4. Turn on your slowcooker on Slow mode, and let it cooks for about 4-6 hours.
The thing is, its better to prepare the paste mixture and all other ingredients the night before, then in the morning, before you go to work, put it all in together in the slowcooker and turn it on. Its shall be ready when you get home. The longer the cooking time makes the broth tastier and tenderize the meat perfectly. 

5. If you cook it on stove, its the same method, but instead put all the ingredients in a slowcooker, put it in a big pot. Turn your stove to medium heat and let it cook for around 1 hour or until the meat is tender enough to your taste.
6. Serve the soup with lontong, sprinkle the chopped scallion and fried shallot on top.


PS: You might want to check once in awhile on the soup while its cooking and skim the 'impurities'  on the surface that might form when the soup starts boiling. The 'impurities' are basically the stuff that manifest itself as the scum and some of the floaty bits when you cook raw bones or bloody meat.
If you want to have a clearer soup, boil the meat with water beforehand until it boils and the 'impurities' develops on the surface, then drain it. Then you can continue cooking following the recipe.
I cooked this recipe in the slowcooker and I was away during the whole cooking process so I didn't have the chance to skim the impurities yet my soup turned out to be just fine.

Happy cooking!