Sup Kacang Merah Sapi (Brenebon) / Indonesian Bean and Beef Soup

This soup which I will share the recipe below is a very well known traditional soup from Manado, the capital city of North Sulawesi, a big and beautiful island in Indonesia. This dish was actually influenced by the Dutch culinary since Indonesia was occupied by the Dutch for a few hundred years back then.

Although this dish is none other than kidney bean soup cooked in beef or pork broth, in Indonesia this dish has another familiar name, which is brenebon. The name brenebon is a local Manado pronunciation for bruine bonen which means brown for bruine, and bonen means beans. So bruine bonen means brown beans or red beans.  You can either use red beans or kidney beans for this soup.

In its original Dutch and Manado version of this dish, it usually uses pigs trotters instead of beef. Since this dish is also popular across Indonesian, a halal version of this dish was then created using beef (you can use short ribs or shank). Of course, the taste will be different so it’s up to your preference of which one you will choose for the base of the soup broth. Some people usually also add other vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, and green beans.

This dish is a one-pot dish which is not only delicious but full of proteins and other nutrients. This is especially good for children and it’s a healthy home-cooked dish to fulfil their energy and nutrients for their development.

To cook this soup, you can use a slow cooker, electric multi-function cooker or even stovetop cooking. For stovetop cooking, you have to cook in low heat and add water several times since the water will be slowly reduced during the long cooking process.

Ingredients:

1. 500 gr beef shank
2. 500 gr short ribs
3. 150 gr kidney beans (soak in cold water overnight, replace the water to soak the beans twice)
4. 3 carrots, cut into a round thin shape
5. 3 tbsp cooking oil
6. 6 garlic
7. 5 shallots (about 100 gr)
8. 1 thumb of ginger, cut into thin slices
9. 3 salam or bay leaves
10. 5 lime leaves
11. 6 cloves
12. 1/2 tsp ground caraway seeds (or substitute with ground fennel seeds) or jinten in Bahasa Indonesia
13. 1/2 nutmeg, grated
14. 2 tbsp salt, or to taste
15. 1/2 tsp sugar
16. 1 tsp pepper, or to taste
17. 5 tbsp fried shallots
18. 10 scallions or green onions, minced
19. 2 tomatoes, cut each into 8

Method:

1. First: we are going to blanch the beef to remove any impurities. Prepare a large pot and fill half the pot with water, then bring the water to boil in medium heat. Add all the beef (the water in the pot must cover the meat) and bring the water to boil again in medium heat and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Discard the water and wash the meat in running tap water
2. Add shallots, garlic and caraway seeds with cooking oil into a blender and blend until smooth, then transfer to a wok
3. Cook the mixture while stirring occasionally until it is fragrant and dry and reduced in volume (it will take about 10 minutes in medium heat). Transfer the mixture to the cooking pot
4. To the same pot, add beef cut, water, ginger, salam leaves, lime leaves, cloves, grated nutmeg, salt, sugar and pepper. Cook in low heat until beef is half done or starts to soften, then add kidney beans. Cook until beef and beans are thoroughly cooked and tender. If during the cooking process the amount of water is reduced, add water accordingly (you don’t have to add water if using a slow cooker or multi-function cooker as the water will stay the same). Turn off the heat and let cool for about 15 minutes
5. Take 5 tbsp of the cooked beans and 8 tbsp of the broth and process in a blender until smooth. Return this mixture to the pot (this step is optional and you can skip it if you want a clear soup which is not so thick in consistency)
6. Add carrots and continue cooking until carrots are soft
7. Turn off the heat, add fried shallots, green onions and tomatoes and stir to mix
8. Transfer to serving bowls and serve hot with steam rice