Sedap Fist-Sized Indonesian ‘Pregnant’ Meatball Stuffed With Another Meatball & Quail Egg
Bakso — aka Indonesian meatball — is a staple in the country’s cuisine. Typically served with a bowl of noodle soup (known as mie bakso), it is a well-loved comfort food.
But bakso is not that common in Singapore, which makes halal hawker stall Sri Indonesia at Joo Chiat Complex a foodie gem. It serves the amusingly-named bakso beranak, which translates to ‘pregnant meatball’ in Bahasa Indonesia. Peculiar, we know, but you’ll understand where it gets its name from when you see the orb.
A mega meatball filled with smaller meatballs, it is basically like an edible Russian doll. Besides tiny meatballs, it is not uncommon to find the supersized bakso stuffed with other hearty fillings like veggies, beef chunks, hard-boiled eggs and even mozzarella.
According to the stall’s lady boss Sri Sumiati, a Singapore PR who is originally from Batam, her shop sees a surge in customers on Sundays when Indonesian domestic helpers come here for their hometown fix.
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Bakso more popular than ayam penyet
Sumiati has been running her stall at Joo Chiat Food Court since 2010. Despite its ayam penyet (smashed fried chicken) branding, her bakso beranak, which was added to the menu in 2019, is the crowd favourite here.
The stall has three types of bakso: Bakso Biasa ($7) aka beef ball noodle soup, Bakso Pelakor ($8), which is beef ball noodle soup with tofu, and Bakso Beranak ($9). The menu also offers ikan penyet and a small variety of Indonesian-style snacks like pineapple tarts, banana chips and keropok.
Fist-sized bakso
The bakso here are all handmade from scratch. Ground beef is mixed with ingredients like fried garlic, fried shallots, “Indonesian spices” and tapioca flour, then shaped into balls and boiled.
The same meat paste is used to make the jumbo meatball, which is stuffed with interesting surprises like quail eggs and smaller meatballs. Yep, it’s like a savoury Kinder Surprise.
As the jumbo bakso is “troublesome” and time-consuming to make, Sumiati whips up a big batch of meatballs once a week, freezes them and cooks ’em upon order.
Taste test
Like uncovering a Kinder Surprise egg, you don’t exactly know what you’re going to get when you dig into a bakso beranak. The meatball is scored cross-section, so it opens up like a huat kueh.
When we pry open the cute fist-sized meatball like a durian, we find little chambers cradling two quail eggs and a regular-sized bakso spiked with a dollop of sambal.
Unlike store-bought meatballs, which sometimes have a rubbery mouthfeel, these bouncy orbs are dense with a good bite and meaty.
Taste-wise, this is redolent with spices and beefy flavour, though we prefer the outer layer of the bakso beranak, which is more tender than the small meatballs. Also worth a mention is the stewed quail eggs. Slightly hard and umami, having absorbed the bakso seasoning, they taste like a cross between a salted egg and Taiwanese iron egg (aka tie dan). Yum.
Rounding up the bakso beranak bowl are tender beef chunks, tendon, an additional regular-sized bakso, veggies, bee hoon and a scattering of dried shallots in a cloudy beef broth.
Made by simmering beef bones in a variety of spices, the soup is full-bodied and aromatic, if a tad salty. Our Indonesian dining companion nods approvingly as he tucks into the dish, and comments that the soup is “very close” to what is served in Batam, albeit more robust. Be sure to savour this with sambal and a drizzle of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) for maximum shiokness.
Sri Indonesia is at Joo Chiat Food Centre, #01-1127, Joo Chiat Complex, 2 Joo Chiat Rd, S420002. Open daily 8am – 7pm.
Photos: Pyron Tan
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
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