Indonesian Beef Meatball Stew (Semur Bola-Bola Daging)

Ingredients

For the Meatballs:

• 200 grams of ground beef
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons of bread crumbs or oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon of mushroom stock powder
• 1 tablespoon of margarine

For the Stew:

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 cloves of shallots
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of coriander powder
• 4 cloves
• 1 piece of galangal, smashed
• 1 bay leaf
• Sugar, to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Water, as needed
• Sweet soy sauce, to taste
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
• 2 potatoes

Instructions

Preparing the Meatballs:

1. In a food processor, combine the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs (or oatmeal), and mushroom stock powder. Blend until well-mixed.
2. Shape the mixture into small meatballs.
3. Melt the margarine in a pan and cook the meatballs until they are fully cooked. Set aside.

Preparing the Stew:

1. Thinly slice the garlic, shallots, and onion.
2. Clean the spices (galangal, bay leaf, cloves) and peel and dice the potatoes. Rinse the potatoes well.
3. In the same pan used for the meatballs, heat the remaining margarine.
4. Sauté the sliced garlic, shallots, onion, bay leaf, galangal, and cloves until fragrant.
5. Add water to the pan, followed by the nutmeg powder, coriander powder, sugar, salt, and sweet soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil and adjust the seasoning to taste.
6. Add the diced potatoes and the cooked meatballs to the pan. Continue cooking until the potatoes are tender and the flavors have melded, and the liquid has reduced.
7. Dissolve the cornstarch in a small amount of water and stir it into the stew. Cook until the sauce thickens and bubbles.
8. Serve the semur bola-bola daging sapi hot with steamed rice.

Enjoy your flavorful and hearty Indonesian meatball stew!