Bakso (Indonesian Beef Meatball Soup)

For the fried garlic

• 12 clovesgarlic, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cupneutral oil, such as peanut or canola

For the broth

• 2½ lbbeef bones, such as shin, knuckle, or marrow bones
• ½ lbbeef shank or brisket trimmings (tetelan) (optional)
• 3½ qtwater
• 3 stalksChinese celery (daun seledri), tied in a knot, or the leafy tops of 2 regular celery stalks
• 2scallions, tied in a knot
• 2 tspfine salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tspsugar
• 1/2 tspground white pepper
• 1/8 tspnutmeg, freshly grated
• 1 tspbeef or mushroom stock powder (kaldu bubuk) (optional)

For the meatballs

• 1 lblean beef (top round or eye of round), fat and silverskin trimmed, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 tspfine salt
• 3½ ozice cubes (about ¾ cup), crushed
• 1large egg white, cold
• 2 oztapioca starch (about ½ cup)
• 2 tbspfried garlic, from above, crushed
• 1 tbspfried shallots (bawang goreng), store-bought, crushed
• 1 tspsugar
• 1/2 tspground white pepper
• 1/2 tspbaking powder
• 1 tspbeef or mushroom stock powder (kaldu bubuk) (optional)
• 3 qtwater, for poaching

For the sambal rebus (boiled chili sambal)

• 15Thai bird's eye chilies (cabai rawit), stems removed
• 2 clovesgarlic, peeled
• 1/4 tspfine salt
• ¼ cuphot broth

For the bowls

• 7 ozdried rice vermicelli (bihun)
• ½ lbfresh yellow egg noodles (mie kuning)
• ¾ lbchoy sum or bok choy (sawi), cut into 2-inch pieces
• 3scallions, thinly sliced
• ¼ ozChinese celery leaves (about ¼ cup), chopped
• ½ ozfried shallots (bawang goreng) (about ¼ cup)
• —kecap manis, to serve
• —bottled chili or tomato sauce (saus sambal or saus tomat), to serve (optional)

Bakso gets its bounce from protein, not from starch. Salt draws the sticky proteins out of the beef, and the food processor works them into a paste. When the paste heats gently, those proteins set into an elastic gel, the same way fish balls and hot dogs get their snap. Every leftover strand of intact muscle interrupts that gel, which is why the recipe keeps processing until the fibers are gone.

Cold keeps the whole thing on track. The processor blade creates friction, and warm paste starts to set before it's shaped, which gives you crumbly, grainy meatballs. The ice cools the paste as it works, and the melted water gets trapped in the gel, so the finished meatball is juicy instead of dry.

Tapioca starch adds chew and holds more of that water, but only up to a point. Endang Indriani of Just Try & Taste, one of Indonesia's best-known home-cooking blogs, puts the limit at 15 to 20 percent of the meat's weight, with ice at 10 to 15 percent. This recipe uses about 13 percent starch, enough for spring without a gummy, rubbery bite. The ice runs a little above her range at 22 percent, which is typical of the processor-made versions.

Heat control finishes the job. In water that is steaming but not boiling, the meatballs cook through evenly and the outside sets smooth. At a rolling boil the surface expands faster than the center can keep up, and the balls wrinkle, crack, or split. That's why almost every Indonesian recipe starts the balls in water that has just come off the boil.

Beef cut: Top round and eye of round are lean and cheap, and lean meat gives the cleanest snap. Chuck works but makes a softer, fattier ball. Some Indonesian cooks prefer a little fat for flavor. Tenderloin works well if you want to splurge.

Chicken bakso (bakso ayam): Use 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed and frozen for 2 hours, in place of the beef. Cut the tapioca to 1/3 cup. Chicken paste is softer, so chill it well before shaping. Chicken stock works as the broth base.

Tapioca starch: Potato starch behaves almost the same. Cornstarch works but gives a firmer, less bouncy ball.

No food processor: Use store-bought ground beef, and knead and slam the paste by hand until it is smooth and no longer sticks to your palm. It takes 15 to 20 minutes of hard work, and the texture will be a little coarser.

Baking powder: It makes the meatballs lighter and bouncier. Leave it out for a dense, meaty ball closer to the Wonogiri style.

Stock powder: Many Indonesian recipes use kaldu bubuk or a pinch of MSG for a rounder savory flavor. It's optional; the bone broth carries the dish without it.

Bakso urat (tendon bakso): Chop 5 oz of cooked beef tendon into small pieces and fold it into the finished paste by hand. The balls come out rougher and chewier, with bits of tendon throughout.

Bakso Malang style: Set aside a third of the paste. Stuff it into fried tofu puffs to make tahu bakso, or wrap spoonfuls in wonton skins and fry them until golden for pangsit goreng. Poach or steam the tofu, then add both to the bowls.

Bakso is a one-bowl meal. Most people order it campur, with both egg noodles and rice vermicelli, but either alone is fine. Put the sambal, kecap manis, and a bottle of chili or tomato sauce on the table and let everyone adjust their own bowl. A spoonful of sambal and a thin drizzle of kecap manis is the usual starting point, and the broth should turn slightly sweet, hot, and cloudy as it's stirred in. Eat with a spoon in one hand and a fork in the other, cutting the meatballs with the edge of the spoon.

Meatballs: Refrigerate cooked meatballs in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To freeze, spread the chilled meatballs on a tray, freeze until solid, then bag them. They keep for up to 3 months.

Broth: Refrigerate for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Lift off the fat that sets on top if you want a cleaner broth.

Noodles and greens: Cook these fresh. Noodles stored in broth turn soft and soak it up.

Reheating: Bring the broth to a simmer, add the meatballs, and heat gently for 5 minutes (about 10 from frozen). Keep it below a boil, just as when you cooked them.

Bakso is one of Indonesia's most common street foods. Vendors push it through neighborhoods on carts called gerobak or on bicycles, and it is also sold from roadside warung and tent stalls. The word can mean a single meatball or the whole bowl of soup.

The name comes from the Hokkien bak-so, usually translated as minced or fluffy meat. That points to Chinese-Indonesian origins, and the texture is close to Chinese beef balls and fish balls. In Hokkien, bak usually means pork. Because most Indonesians are Muslim, the dish became a beef and chicken food, and pork bakso is found mainly in Chinatowns and in Bali.

Regional styles differ in how dense the balls are and how the bowl is built. Bakso Wonogiri, from a Central Javanese regency known for sending bakso sellers across the country, is dense and meaty with very little starch, served in clear beef broth. Bakso Solo seasons its broth with nutmeg. Bakso Malang turns the bowl into a spread, with stuffed tofu, fried and steamed wontons, and fried meatballs alongside the soup. Bakso urat mixes chopped tendon into the meat.

The dish became known internationally after Barack Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Jakarta, remembered buying sate and bakso from street vendors in a 2010 speech at the University of Indonesia.