The story
Soto Betawi is named after the Betawi, the native people of Jakarta, the old Dutch Batavia. It belongs to Indonesia's big family of soto soups, which some historians link to a Chinese beef-offal soup brought by immigrants in the colonial era, blended with Indian, Arab and local cooking. The Jakarta version stands out for its rich broth of coconut milk and cow's milk, often enriched with ghee, a sign of Arab or Indian Muslim influence, and served with fried potato, tomato and crackers. The name itself is credited to Lie Boen Po, a soto seller who used it for one of his soups and helped make it famous.
Also known as soto Jakarta, Betawi soto, soto daging Betawi.
On the Meridish menu
Soto Betawi was the soup course on menu No. 13 on October 13, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Beef and offal in a creamy broth of coconut milk and cow's milk, with fried potato and crackers. Named after the original people of this huge, traffic-jammed capital.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soto_(food)
- thejakartapost.com/life/2016/07/07/some-interesting-facts-about-soto-betawi
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
