4 minute read
Sop Buntut: Soup for the Soul
from Comfort Foods
Rigatoni alla Salsiccia
by Mackenzie Childs
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PHOTO: Ashley Shen
Before returning home for breaks, I mentally compile a list of restaurants I want to visit. Highlights of this list include Antico Pizza, where I celebrated my 18th birthday; Taqueria del Sol, specifically for a fried chicken taco; and Novo Cucina, my family’s favorite restaurant in Atlanta. These are places full of memories where my family and I celebrated birthdays, holidays, and academic successes. To me, these restaurants serve comfort food—food with a nostalgic or sentimental value that, when tasted, bring back a flood of memories.
This summer, however, home wasn’t the same.
When I returned to Atlanta in March, it dawned on me that not only would I be unable to visit these places to be reminded of old memories, but we also could not return to make new memories. A few weeks prior to Mother’s Day, my mom approached me and requested that I replicate her favorite meal—rigatoni with sausage and pink sauce Novo Cucina. And so I headed into the kitchen, apron on and wooden spoon in hand, to test and trial this recipe. In the process, I built upon existing memories and sentimentality to create a new comfort food. I have made this dish for Mother’s Day, my mom’s birthday, and for my grandparents and the memories of those occasions have helped to further cement Rigatoni alla Salsiccia as a comfort food. Serves: 4 Total time: 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS: 8 oz Rigatoni pasta ½ cup pasta water 1 lb bulk Italian sausage 1 medium onion, diced 1 tsp dried basil 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp dried parsley 1 tsp crushed red pepper ¾ cup half-and-half ¼ cup white wine 1 tbsp tomato paste 16 oz can crushed tomatoes 1 tbsp flour ¼ cup shredded Parmiganio-Reggiano cheese
INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Cook pasta one minute less than al dente, according to package directions. Before draining, reserve 1/2 cup pasta water. 2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook through. Remove sausage from the pan, drain, and set aside. 3. In the same pan, sauté onion until it is translucent. 4. Then, add the tomato paste, dried spices, half-andhalf, wine, tomato sauce, and flour. Stir until combined and bring to a simmer to thicken. 5. Once small bubbles appear, add the sausage and stir until the sausage is broken up and evenly distributed through the sauce. 6. Then, add the cooked pasta along. Add pasta water, a little at a time, until the sauce clings to the pasta. 7. Finally, add the cheese and mix until melted and well combined. 8. Serve topped with more cheese, if desired.
SOP BUNTUT: SOUP FOR THE SOUL
BY ALLISON FARIAL
Although notorious among college students for its instant noodle Indomie Mie Goreng, Indonesian cuisine has so much more to offer than just a 12-inch packaged, dried noodle dish. Indonesia arguably curates the most aromatic and spice-laden foods in the world–dishes that take beyond five minutes to cook and require more than just a pot of boiling water.
Having lived in Indonesia for the past 18 years of my life, I would often find myself craving a bowl of my mother’s Oxtail Soup (Sop Buntut), more so than a bowl of Mie Goreng. Oxtail soup is a popular Indonesian dish that is served not only by street vendors, but also by 5-star hotels–particularly because of its sentimental, nostalgic value. This soup, commonly enjoyed with a warm bowl of white rice and deep-fried shallots, is a wellknown masakan ibu (translated to mother’s cooking). There is no doubt that Cornellians of all cultures and races must be missing their own version of masakan ibu. But regardless of where you are from, you must get a taste of Indonesia’s–specifically my mother’s–hearty Sop Buntut, as it never disappoints.
DIRECTIONS: 1. Clean the oxtail by placing it in simmering water for about 8-9 minutes. Drain and remove the oxtail from the water in the pot. 2. Transfer the oxtail to a soup pot* filled halfway with water and cook for 2 hours on medium-low heat until meat is tender. 3. While waiting, prepare the spice paste. Grind together the shallots, minced garlic, crushed ginger, and diced onion in a mortar and pestle. Set aside. 4. In a frying pan, add in the spice paste along with vegetable oil, cloves, the cinnamon stick and nutmeg. Saute for around 3 minutes on medium heat. 5. Once the oxtail has finished cooking, strain out the excess oil and foam. Then, add the spice paste into the broth. 6. Bring the broth and oxtail back to a boil. Add in the carrots and potato, then season with salt, sugar, and ground white pepper. 7. Reduce the heat and simmer once the potatoes and carrots start to become tender. 8. Turn off the heat and enjoy with slices of tomato, finely-chopped scallion, Chinese celery**, lime juice, and a warm bowl of white rice topped with crunchy deep fried shallots! Notes: INGREDIENTS: 1 lb oxtail 2 ½ garlic cloves 4 whole cloves ½ tsp crushed nutmeg 1 tbsp of vegetable oil ½ cinnamon stick ¼ lb carrot ¼ lb potato ½ tomato ½ scallion 1 tsp salt ½ tbsp white sugar 1 tsp ground white pepper 50g shallots ½ tbsp chopped ginger ¼ diced white onion 1 lime 1 Chinese celery leaf deep fried shallots (optional)
steamed white rice (optional) * You can use a pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time to 40 minutes. ** Parsley is a good replacement for Chinese celery.
