The exotic ribs bakso

JAKARTA. Who does not know bakso (meat ball)? This overseas Chinese culinary is very famous in all over Indonesia. Almost no city in Indonesia without bakso stall. Rumor has it that most of imported beef in this country are used for fulfilling the demands from bakso entrepreneurs.

Recently, bakso has various types and ways to serve. Not only a beef round with seasonings, bakso now has many variants, such as cheese bakso, corned beef bakso, vegetables bakso, and even chili bakso. A bowl of bakso does not only consist of bakso and noodles, but also beef scraps, chicken feet, and beef ribs.

If you are a fan of bakso, you must try a bowl of bakso at Kedai Bakso Rusuk Samanhudi (Samanhudi Ribs Bakso Stall).  The taste is so fantastic! That’s why the bakso stall, which is located at Samanhudi Road No 18D, Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta, is always crowded by customers.

If you are passing by Sawah Besar area at 6am, 12pm , or even 3am, do  not hasitate to stop by at the stall, since the stall is open for 24 hours.

While KONTAN stopped by at Kedai Bakso Rusuk Samanhudi, the stall was visited by at least 20 customers in every 45 minutes. The stall keepers were also busy serving buy phone orders. No wonder if the stall every day consumes 60kg-70kg beef ribs.

The stall serves variuos menus of bakso, such as beef vein bakso, small bakso, egg bakso, ribs bakso, as well as super jumbo beef vein bakso. For a bowl of bakso (any kind of bakso) served with ribs, the stall set the price of IDR40,000. However, consumers only need to pay IDR10,000-IDR35,000 for a bowl bakso without ribs. Compared to  other types of bakso, the price for one bowl of bakso served with ribs is relatively more expensive. But the price is worth it, as the portion is big enough, and the bakso and ribs are served separatedly.

It seems that a menu package consists of beef vein bakso, small bakso, and ribs is the favorite menu in this stall. In this package, a three times of ping pong ball-sized bakso is served with two small baksos, noodles, rice noodles, bean sprouts, mustard, as well as celery and fried shallot toppings. Two pieces of rib are served in a separated bowl, mixed with broth gravy, leeks, and fried shallots.

You can find the difference between the bakso gravy and the ribs gravy. The  bakso gravy has yellowish colour with pieces of beef flat floating on the surface, while ribs gravy has brownish colour.

The tastes are little bit different. The bakso gravy has salty-savory taste, while the ribs gravy has sweet-savory taste. The bakso itself is very soft and has a very strong-savory flavour. Add some tomato ketchup, sweet soysauce, and extra strong chili to have more sensation! And you can also orde a plate of rice if you feel that you are not full enough. “The package of bakso and ribs is already enough for me”, said Yuli, a customer.

The ribs are also very soft, and the meat is easy to remove from the bone. Supervisor of Bakso Rusuk Samanhudi Aji said that the stall does not have ‘secret recipe’ in processing the ribs and other ingredients. But, “We have special supplier, which provides high-quality ribs”. Aji said. He also explained that the ribs are simmered during three hours to get soft ribs-meat.

Not only variuos menues of bakso, the stall also has various menus of beverages, such as ice tea, ice orange, ice avocado, ice coconut, and ice orange-coconut with the prices are ranging from IDR2,000-IDR26,000 per glass.

So, don’t forget to bring your ‘special one’ to break your ribs!

Bakso Rusuk Samanhudi

Samanhudi Road 18D Pasar Baru, Sawah Besar, Jakarta.
GPS Coordinates:  -6.1624327,106.7598733

Phone: 0812 917 03970

(Muhammad Farid/Translator)