Baso Buntut — Oxtail Meatballs from an Old Indonesian Recipe Booklet

 Every once in a while, I like looking through old magazines, tabloids, and the little recipe booklets that used to come with them. 

Bakso Buntut

I recently found one of those bonus booklets filled with different bakso recipes, and of course I immediately wanted to try sharing some of them here.

The booklet is an older Indonesian recipe collection, and there are actually quite a few unusual bakso ideas inside. Some are familiar, while others are the kind of recipes I rarely see anymore.

The first one I want to share is Baso Buntut — meatballs made from beef oxtail.

It caught my attention because instead of shaping the meatballs into the usual round balls, the recipe shapes them into little rings. They almost look like tiny savory doughnuts. 😄

And yes, there are more bakso recipes in this booklet, so I’ll slowly share some of the interesting ones in future posts too.

What Is Baso Buntut? Baso is another spelling of bakso, the Indonesian word commonly used for meatballs.

Buntut means oxtail.

So Baso Buntut simply means oxtail meatballs.

Unlike the usual smooth beef bakso served in broth, this version uses finely processed oxtail meat together with seasonings and a small amount of baking powder.

The mixture is shaped into small balls before a hole is pressed into the center using a chopstick.

The result is a rather unusual ring-shaped bakso.

Baso Buntut Recipe

Preparation time: about 15 minutes
Cooking time: about 45 minutes
Makes: approximately 25 pieces

Ingredients

• 250 g beef oxtail meat
• 8 g coarse salt
• 12 g ice cubes
• ¼ teaspoon vetsin / MSG
• 50 ml ice water
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder

To Serve

• Tomato sauce
• Chili sauce or sambal
• Lime

 How to Make Baso Buntut

1. Prepare the oxtail

Wash the oxtail meat thoroughly.

Remove the meat from the bone if necessary, then process or grind the meat until fine.

The original booklet shows the meat being processed until it becomes a smooth mixture.

2. Mix the seasonings

Combine the ground oxtail meat with:

• coarse salt
• ice
• MSG
• ice water
• ground pepper
• baking powder

Mix thoroughly until the ingredients are well combined and the meat mixture becomes sticky.

Keeping the mixture cold helps the meat stay firm while it is being processed.
 

Mix Well

3. Shape the meatballs

Take a small portion of the meat mixture and shape it into a ball.

Then press a chopstick through the center to create a hole.

Gently widen the hole so the meatball looks like a small ring.

I think this is the most charming part of the recipe. They definitely don't look like ordinary bakso!

Shape The Bakso

4. Place them in warm water

Prepare a pot of warm water.

Place the shaped meatballs into the water one by one.

Continue until all of the meat mixture has been shaped.

5. Cook the bakso

Once all the meatballs are in the pot, turn on the stove and bring the water to a boil.

Cook until the meatballs are completely cooked through.

Lift them out and drain.

Boil The Bakso

 6. Serve

Serve the Baso Buntut with:

• sambal
• tomato sauce
• fresh lime

You could also serve them with noodles and broth if you prefer a more traditional bakso-style meal.

Oxtail Meatball Recipe Card

This recipe comes from an old bonus recipe booklet included with an Indonesian tabloid.

I love finding recipes like this because they capture a very particular style of home cooking from their time.

Some ingredients, measurements, and techniques may feel a little different from modern recipes, so I’ve translated and rewritten the instructions into clearer English while keeping the original idea as closely as possible.

One ingredient in the original recipe is vetsin, which is another Indonesian term for MSG. If you don't use MSG, you can leave it out or adjust the seasoning to your taste.

Little tip from the original booklet says to choose young, tender oxtail so the meat softens more quickly.

Oxtail contains quite a bit of connective tissue, so choosing a tender piece should also make the meat easier to process.

This booklet actually contains many different kinds of bakso, and some of them are wonderfully unusual.

So rather than putting everything into one giant post, I’m going to share some of my favorites one by one.

I think it will be fun to turn this into a little old Indonesian recipe booklet series here on the blog.

There is something special about rediscovering recipes that might otherwise stay forgotten inside an old magazine or booklet.

And sometimes the slightly strange ones are the most interesting. 😊

More vintage bakso recipes coming soon.