Indonesian Chicken Soup (Soto Ayam)

No matter where you are in the world, there is a soup that serves as both sustenance and salve. Home cook Erida Wahyuningsih and chef Degan Septoadgi taught us that in Indonesia, the chicken soup called soto ayam is that dish. The flavor base is a turmeric-tinged seasoning paste made by blending aromatics such as lemon grass, shallots and garlic; the paste is fried before it’s stirred into chicken broth. Some versions of soto ayam are enriched with coconut milk, but ours gets light creaminess from cashews pureed into the paste. If you can, include the optional makrut lime leaves, as they lend an inimitable, citrusy-but-not-sour intensity. Soto ayam goes well with garnishes beyond the ones listed in the recipe. Try fried shallots, bean sprouts, peeled and halved hard-cooked eggs and/or sambal oelek. Septoadgi also topped his soup with potato chips—odd, we thought, until we had a taste and were sold! Serve with jasmine rice.