Rawon

Rawon is a rich-tasting traditional Indonesian beef black soup. Originally from Surabaya, it uses black nuts called keluak (Pangeum edule, fruits of kepayang tree) as the main spice which gives the soup a strong nutty flavor and dark color.

The soup is made of ground mixture of garlic, shallot, keluak, ginger, candlenut, turmeric, red chili and salt sauteed with oil until it gets aromatic. The sauteed mixture is then poured into boiled beef stock with diced beef. Lemongrass, galangal, bay leaves, kaffir lime leaves and sugar are then added as seasonings.

The soup is usually garnished with green onion and fried shallot, and served with rice, hence Nasi Rawon, together with baby bean sprouts, salted preserved egg, shrimp crackers and sambal chili sauce on the side.