Soto Ayam Recipe: Indonesian Chicken Noodle Soup

Soto Ayam is a savoury chicken broth with shredded chicken and rice vermicelli. It is the Indonesian version of chicken noodle soup that offers heartwarming deliciousness. 

A bowl of Soto Ayam - the Indonesian chicken noodle soup.

Soto Ayam

Of all the varieties of soups in Indonesian cuisine, Soto Ayam is one of the most popular ones across the country.

It is so popular that the Ministry of Tourism declared it one of Indonesia’s national dishes, along with Sate Ayam, Beef Rendang, Nasi Goreng, and Gado Gado.

Although every region in Indonesia has its version of Soto Ayam, they all have similar ingredients.

Indonesian chicken noodle soup in a bowl with lime and napkin in the background.

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The recipe I’m sharing here is based on Soto Ayam from Jakarta. 

This soup with shredded chicken and cellophane noodles is often served with hard-boiled rice cake, lontong, or plain rice. 

But of course, you can always have the chicken soup as it is without the carb if you like. 

Chili lovers can enjoy the soup with a spoon or two of freshly made chili sambal. 

Soto Ayam vs Mee Soto

Do not get confused with another type of soup called Soto Mie/ Mee Soto because it differs from Soto Ayam. 

Mee Soto uses beef and beef broth. Also, it uses egg noodles in it. 

Soto Ayam uses chicken soup with rice-based noodles/ rice vermicelli. This vermicelli is called Bihun in Indonesian. You can enjoy it with hard-boiled rice or rice. However, you can always have it as it is without adding more carbs.

Soto Ayam is different from Mee Soto/ Soto Mie.

What To Serve It With

If you’re having a party, this Indonesian chicken clear soup with rice noodles is a good starter. 

When you serve it as an appetizer, you don’t have to serve it with rice cakes or lontong. The soup and rice noodles are enough on their own. 

The Ingredients You Need

These are two groups of ingredients that you need to make this Soto Ayam. One is the essential ingredients as follows:

  1. Whole chicken with bones.
  2. Onion.
  3. Ginger.
  4. Garlic.
  5. Ground white pepper.
  6. Lemongrass.
  7. Salam leaves.
  8. Spring onions.
  9. Vinegar/ lime juice.
  10. Salt.
  11. Sugar.
A close-up photo of Soto Ayam.

The other ones are optional ingredients as follows:

  1. Hard-boiled eggs.
  2. Cellophane noodles/ rice vermicelli.
  3. Hard-boiled rice cake/ Lontong. 
  4. Beansprouts.
  5. White cabbage. 
  6. Tomato.
  7. Flat leaf parsley.
  8. Fried shallots/ onions.

How To Make It

First, boil the chicken in hot water until it is cooked. 

As you do so, you make the spice paste using a pestle and mortar, a spice grinder, or a small food processor.

Once the chicken is boiled, drain it and place it in another pan with fresh boiling water. Then, add the spice paste and all the herbs. Let it simmer for at least half an hour. Like any chicken soup, the longer you cook it, the better its flavor, so feel free to cook longer. 

When you’re happy with the soup, take the chicken out and shred its meat. 

Take a serving bowl and place the rice vermicelli, beansprouts, shredded cabbage, and boiled egg slices in it. Add some shredded chicken and pour the soup over everything. 

Then garnish your Soto Ayam with fried shallots, sliced parsley, and chopped tomato. 

Top Tips To Make the Best Soto Ayam

  • Boil the chicken before you make the soup. You may wonder why you have to boil the chicken twice. Literally.

Let me explain.

Because the water from the first boil will have all the impurities of the meat, you can see dirty foam on top of the water. And you don’t want that in your soup.

  • Grind your spices until really smooth. This will make your soup more flavorsome without the grittiness of coarsely ground spices. 

Storage Matter

Once it’s cooled down, your Soto Ayam stays in the fridge for almost a week. 

You can also freeze it for up to 2 months. Take it out of the freezer and leave it in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. Reheat the soup until it is piping hot before serving.

Once it thaws, you must not refreeze it. 

More Comfort Food From the Indonesian Kitchen

Thank you for checking this Soto Ayam recipe. I hope you now want to try making it. If you do, please share your thoughts in the comments below. 

Please follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Pinterest. To sneak a peek at what’s cooking in my kitchen. 

Before you go, check out more comfort food from my Indonesian kitchen that you may like.

All the best.

A bowl of Soto Ayam - the Indonesian chicken noodle soup.
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5 from 14 votes

Soto Ayam – Indonesian clear chicken soup

Soto Ayam is one of the most popular soups among Indonesian culinary. This clear chicken soup is often enjoyed with cellophane noodles and hard-boiled rice cakes.
Author: Devy Dar
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Snacks & Starters
Cuisine: Indonesian
Servings: 10

Equipment

  • Chopping board
  • Kitchen knife
  • Food chopper or
  • Food processor
  • Cooking pan with lid

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken approximately 2.2 lbs.
  • 1 medium brown onion.
  • 5 cloves garlic.
  • 1- inch ginger.
  • 1 lemongrass cut in an inch-lengths.
  • 2 salam leaves.
  • 1 teaspoon ground white pepper.
  • Salt to taste (I put 1 ½ tsp).
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar or 1 tbsp lime juice.
  • 1 teaspoon sugar.
  • Optional:
  • 3.5 ounces cellophane noodles soaked in hot boiling water for 2-3 minutes until softened and drain.
  • 10 ounces hard-boiled rice cakes/ lontong cut into small pieces.
  • 1-2 ounces fried-onions.
  • 3 spring onions/ scallions finely sliced.
  • 1 ounce flat-leaved parsley finely sliced.
  • 4 eggs boiled, peeled and sliced.
  • 2 tomatoes sliced.
  • Onion crackers or pawn crackers.

Instructions

  • Peel and chop the onions, garlic, and ginger. 
  • Using a pestle and mortar or a food processor, grind the chopped onions, ginger, and garlic into a paste. Set aside
  • Clean and cut the chicken into small pieces or into 4 big pieces. 
  • Boil one litre of water in a pot, and put the chicken pieces in when the water reaches its boiling point. Boil the poultry until it’s just cooked through. Drain the chicken and set it aside. 
  • In another pot, boil 2 litres of water and add the onion paste, lemongrass, salam leaves, vinegar, pepper and salt. Let the water simmer with all the herbs and spices for about 5 minutes. 
  • Then add the chicken into the spiced water and let it cook and simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer you cook the more savoury your soup will be. 
  • Once you’re happy with your soup, take the chicken out and shred its meat. Set aside. 
  • Arrange your Soto Ayam in a serving bowl. Starting with Lontong pieces (if using), cellophane noodles, beansprouts, shredded cabbage, shredded chicken and boiled egg slices. 
  • Then pour the soup over until it covers everything. 
  • Garnish your Soto Ayam with chopped tomatoes, sliced spring onions, parsley, fried onions slices, and some crackers.
  • Enjoy.

Notes

  • As mentioned above, having Soto Ayam with cellophane noodles and hard-boiled rice cakes is nice. However, this clear chicken soup is lovely with rice or as it is.
  • If you like spicy chili, you can enjoy your Soto Ayam with Indonesian sambal/chili sauce. 
  • You can also drizzle Indonesian sweet soy sauce over your soup with chili sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 1813kcal | Carbohydrates: 412g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 194mg | Sodium: 454mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g

Disclaimer

Nutritional info in this recipe is only estimate using online calculator. You should refer to it as a guide only. Please verify with your own data if you seek an accurate info.

Author: Devy Dar

Title: Food Writer, Recipe Developer, and Digital Content Creator.

Bio:

Devy Dar founded So Yummy Recipes and Drizzling Flavor to share her love of food after exploring various cultures and cuisines for more than two decades. Her mission is to help others easily recreate traditional and non-traditional food with readily available ingredients. Her works have been featured in Reader’s Digest, Al Jazeera, MSN, Yahoo, Bon Appetit, and more. 

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12 Comments

  1. Chicken soups are my comfort food and this soup is amazing! I loved all the flavors in it and froze some for lunch next week.

    1. Thank you. Yes, cook in batches and keep some for another day.

  2. Oh wow, this is so nostalgic for me. My Indonesian friend would invite me to her home after school and her mom would serve this to us! I’m so happy that you’ve provided a recipe that I can recreate and remember good times!

    1. And I hope the recipe will be up to your expectation so you can savour it as you remember those good times ;-). Cheers.

  3. Mandy Applegate says:

    This was a real filling and tasty soup, I loved the different flavors, plain old chicken soup will never be the same again!

    1. And it suits the cold weather now.

  4. Alex Bala says:

    Great rich flavor in this soup. I love all the beautiful colors. Thanks for the inspiration to try new flavors.

    1. You’re most welcome.

  5. I loved your Indonesian Chicken Soup Recipe!! Thank you for sharing your soup recipe!

    1. You’re most welcome. I’m glad you love it.

  6. Jennifer (Nylander) Littke says:

    Your recipe calls for rice vermicelli in one place and cellophane noodles in another place. Cellophane noodles or glass noodles or crystal noodles are mung bean noodles. The term vermicelli noodles can refer to either rice vermicelli or mung bean vermicelli. Either noodle would work in the recipe, and I think either noodle is used interchangeably in Indonesian cooking. Thanks for the recipe.

    1. Yes, that’s right. Thank you. Therefore I use both terms. I hope you like the recipe.

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