Cram Cam (Clear Chicken Soup with Balinese Spices)

This dish is very nice combined with Jukut Urab (mixed vegetables with grated coconut: recipe following) and rice porridge and condiments like fried peanut with skin on or fried soya bean and sambal. Usually they will sell this dish at a small stall at the traditional market or village neighborhood.

First Ingredients:
(Spice Paste for Chicken soup)
7 shallots, peeled
13 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cm kencur root (Kaempferia Galanga), peeled and chopped
2 cm galangal (laos), peeled and chopped
5 candlenuts or you can replace with macadamia nuts
6 cm turmeric root, peeled and chopped or 3 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tbsp shaved palm sugar or dark brown sugar
2 tbsp oil
1 stalks lemongrass, tender inner part of bottom third only, bruised
1 salam leaf or bay leaf
5 bird's-eye chillies or so (depend how spicy do you want)

Put the shallots, garlic, kencur, galangal, candlenuts, turmeric, chillies, and palm sugar into the food processor and grind coarsely. Heat the oil to a medium heat and fry all the ingredients until very hot, stirring frequently until the paste changes to a golden color. Set a side.

Second Ingredients:
2 cups (500ml) chicken stock
spice paste for chicken
pinch of salt
pinch of crushed black peppercorns
1 salam leaf or bay leaf
1 stalks lemongrass, tender inner part of bottom third only, bruised
200 g minced chicken
1 tbsp crispy fried shallots for garish
1 tbsp of chopped celery leaf or parsley for garnish

Method:
Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a medium saucepan or stockpot. Wrap the spice paste and black peppercorn into a piece of cotton cloth and tie it with a string. Add the spice paste bundle, the salam leaf, and lemongrass to the soup and let it simmer for 10 minutes (if you don't have cotton cloth you can just add the spice paste to the chicken stock shimmer for 15 minutes and sift it) after that put it again the clear soup on the stove, add the minced chicken and shimmer for 15 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with crispy fried shallot and celery leaf.

Bon Appétit!