Stellar Singapore Red Soup!

When you come to Singapore, you must try one of its most spectacular foods. Yes…It’s time for red bone soup! Conceptually, this soup is trademark about Singapore cuisine other than that fabulous Chilli Crab (will post that in my other entry). This soup rose to become one of the city-state’s most revered dishes.

The name ‘sup tulang merah’ (red soup) I guess came from its blood-red sauce (combination of chilli and tomato) and mutton bones (shank), normally served along with a plate of bread or in my house we use baguette.

Let me stress this folk, don’t go for this meal wearing white unless you've already put aside some budget for a laundry service. Well, for a start, you’ll need a 7 new shirts and 7 napkins to eat this (hahaha, I’m kidding!)

The entire point of the meal is to suck the marrow. I know, it may sounds disgusting, but believe me mate, it tasted amazing. Some of people prefer to dunk them and suck the marrow out, but an easier way consists of sticking the straw in, and drinking it up.

Ok, let me share the recipe here.

Ingredients:

3-4 kg lamb shanks

1 kg fresh tomatoes (the reddest ones that you can find)

1.5 kg carrots

6 green chillies

5 candlenuts

6 large red onions or 15 shallots

10 garlic cloves

2 inches ginger

1 can tomato puree

2 eggs

5 tbsp blended dried red chillies (depends on your level of tolerance toward spicy)

2 tbsp Planta margarine / Ghee

Salt and sugar

Methods:

Boil the lamb shank in a coconut juice for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. This is to get rid of the 'smell' of the lamb.Add 2 tbsp of salt. If you use a pressure cooker, you only need to cook for about 30 - 45 minutes. After lamb shanks are cooked, take the lamb shanks out of the pot, set them aside. Don’t throw away the water used to boil lamb shanks coz we need this to make the stew.

Blend onions, garlic, ginger, and candlenuts together, set aside.

Blend carrots, tomatoes, green chillies, dried red chillies, set aside.

Heat Planta / Ghee, fry the onions, garlic, ginger and candlenut until fragrant, and then add dried red chillies, green chillies, tomatoes, tomato puree, carrots. Stir well until gravy turns bright red. Add salt and sugar to taste. Finally add in you egg, stir well.

Add the lamb shanks; let the lamb and gravy cook for about 3 hours or more, and the secret for superlicious gravy, the longer the better. 

You can put shred cabbage as a garnishing. Buonissimo!