This Sup Kambing is a Malaysian style mutton/lamb soup seasoned with spices to create a deliciously hearty and flavorful soup.
When I made this Roast Leg of Lamb some months back, I saved some of the meat and the leg bone to make this soup. Although the Malaysian style Sup Kambing uses goat meat, lamb is a good substitute as the flavor is pretty similar. Goat meat in Malaysia is called mutton which has a slightly gamier flavor and is less fat than lamb. I know this can be confusing because over here, mutton is meat from sheep that are older than a year. Hence, they are also tougher and more gamey. That said, they can all be used to make this soup.
Sup Kambing for Supper Time
Sup Kambing is a often found at the warung (cafe) operated by Malay food vendors. Interestingly, this is a popular dish for supper time served with roti bakar (toast bread) into the wee hours of the morning. Some versions of this soup are more yellow in color while others are a little more brown. It depends on whether more turmeric or coriander is used in the soup.
Chinese Celery
The other ingredient that is important in this soup is Chinese celery which has a more peppery and bitter flavor than regular celery. It also has a more pronounced fragrance. Chinese celery has a deeper green color with thinner stems and a slightly more fibrous texture. It is often used in soups or cooked with strong flavored meats and seafood like this Squid and Celery Stir Fry.
The stems of this particular bunch of Chinese celery that I purchased are thicker than most. It has a really pronounced fragrance not found in regular celery. If you are not able to find Chinese celery, please use regular celery. Look for celery with a deeper green color and thinner stems for a stronger flavor.
Cooked or Raw Goat Meat/Lamb/Mutton
I used cooked lamb in this recipe because that is what I have on hand. The roasting did provide the soup with an additional layer of flavor and a deeper color but you can use raw goat meat/mutton/lamb instead. It takes about 2 hours to boil this soup and so the meat will be tender when it is done.
Similar Tools Used in Making This Sup Kambing (Mutton/Lamb Soup)
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Ninja BL770 Kitchen Blender System
Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron 4-1/2-Quart Round French (Dutch) Oven, Cherry Red
Pyrex Prepware 1-Cup Measuring Cup
Sup Kambing (Mutton/Lamb Soup)
Ingredients
- 3 stalks Chinese celery
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 2 star anise
- 6 pods cardamom
- 3 carrots (peeled and cut into coins)
- 1 lb mutton / lamb meat, cut into bite size pieces (450g)
- 10 cups water (2.4 liters)
- 1 mutton / lamb bone
- ½ tsp peppercorns (crushed)
- 3 tomatoes (cubed)
- 3 potatoes (cut into bite size pieces)
- Salt to taste
Garnish
- Fried shallots
- Cilantro
Spice Paste
- 1 onion (cut into chunks)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger (30g)
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
Instructions
Spice Paste
- Blend onion, garlic, and ginger until fine. Add 2 tablespoons of water if necessary to get the blender going. Transfer blended ingredients to a bowl. Add ground coriander, cumin, and turmeric. Mix well to form a paste.
- Separate the Chinese celery stalks from the leaves. Cut the stalks crosswise into ¼ inch thick slices. Cut the leaves into strips.
- Heat vegetable oil in a cast iron pot. Add cinnamon, star anise, cardamom and fry for 30 seconds. Add spice paste and stir fry for 3 minutes.
- Add Chinese celery, carrots, and mutton/lamb. Stir fry for another 3 minutes.
- Pour in 10 cups (2.4 liters) of water. Add mutton/lamb bone and crushed peppercorns. Cover and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour 40 minutes.
- Skim off as much of the fat as possible.
- Add tomatoes and potatoes. Continue to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add celery leaves and season with salt. Turn off stove.
- Serve warm garnished with fried shallots and cilantro.
Nutrition
The Garnish
The garnish of cilantro leaves and fried shallots are highly recommended. They really do make the soup taste even more fragrant and delicious. Be sure to have crusty bread on hand to dip into this hearty soup. 😋😋😋
Adam Chew says
Good recipe, tried it and it’s very similar to the mutton soup sold by the mama shops.
🙏
Linda says
Thank you and I am glad you enjoyed it.