Soto Padang — West Sumatra, Indonesia

Soto padang is a clear beef soup made without coconut milk, built on a broth flavoured with fried spices, typically containing beef, fried potato patties, rice vermicelli and onion. The clarity of the broth sets it apart at a glance from the many coconut-based soto soups of the archipelago. This dish is reported as a culinary specialty of West Sumatra, particularly associated with Padang City, where it is commonly eaten for breakfast, sometimes alongside teh talua, a creamed egg tea, and it has also travelled with Minangkabau restaurants to other Indonesian cities. Beef is boiled and cut into pieces, some of which are fried until crisp, while boiled potatoes are seasoned, shaped into small patties and fried. Rice vermicelli and the beef are placed in individual bowls with the fried potato patties and a boiled egg, then covered with the hot, spiced clear broth and garnished with sliced celery, scallions and fried shallots. Within the wider family of soto soups found across Indonesia, soto padang is distinguished by its clear, coconut-free broth and the use of crisp-fried beef and potato patties, setting it apart from coconut-milk-based sotos found in other regions.