coto makassar — South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Coto Makassar is a beef and offal soup reported from Makassar, in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is a variant within the wider soto family, set apart by a broth thickened and enriched with ground peanuts and a mix of spices. Beef is the main meat, often combined with offal such as tripe, liver, heart, or lungs, and the spice paste behind it draws on shallots, garlic, candlenuts, ginger, galangal, coriander, and cumin. Sources trace it to the area around Makassar during the period of the Sultanate of Gowa, where it is said to have first fed royal servants and soldiers before spreading more widely. The meat and offal are boiled until tender, and the broth is kept and combined with a fried spice paste and ground peanuts, which give the liquid its body. Once the seasoning is balanced, the cooked meat and offal are returned to the pot to simmer further before serving. The soup is ladled over rice cakes — burasa or ketupat — rather than plain rice, and a fermented soybean paste called tauco is often served alongside it. It is eaten at any time of day in the region, including as a breakfast, but keeps an association with weddings and religious gatherings. The presence of tauco points to Chinese Indonesian influence, and the use of imported peanuts and curry-style spices reflects the wider trade connections of the Makassar area; the exact mix of offal and the thickness of the broth differ from one cook to another.