Beef Rendang
Try this amazing Indonesian/Malaysian Curry. It is rich, spicy, indulgent and packed full of flavour.
Ingredients
Rendang Spice paste
- 12 fresh red Thai Chillies
- 2.5 onions or 6 shallots
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 stalk lemongrass (white part only)
- 1.5 tbsp minced galangal (rose ginger) or substitute with ginger
- 1.5 tbsp minced ginger
- 2 tbsp oil (any flavour neutral oil, such as sunflower, canola)
Rendang Curry
- 1 kg chuck steak or any stewing beef (cut into 4cm cubes)
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 3 cloves
- 3 green cardamom
- 3 star anise
- 2 stalk lemongrass stalk plus the top half of the lemongrass stick used in the paste smashed with saucepan
- 600 ml coconut milk (1.5 cans)
- 2 tsp tamarind paste (or tamarind pulp soaked in 1 tbsp of hot water, seeds removed)
- 4 large kaffir lime leaves, very finely sliced
- 1/3 cup kerisik (roasted desiccated coconut) dry fry until colour slightly changed then pound to pestle and morter (add to other ingredients = more intense flavour)
- 1 tbsp palm sugar (substitute with brown sugar)
- 1.5 tsp salt
Indonesian Achar
- 3 red chiilis diced
- 1 onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves diced
- 1 tsp ginger diced
- 1 stalk lemongrass white part only, diced
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp oil
- salt to taste
- 1 cucumber seeds removed and cut into batons
- 2 carrots peeled and cut into batons
- 40 grams fine green beans optional, trimmed and cut in 2
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar substitute with white wine vinegar or vinegar of choice
Sambal Oolek
- 5 large red chillies or 10 red Thai chillies, diced
- 3 cloves garlic diced
- 1 onion diced
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar substitute with white wine vinegar or vinegar of choice
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- ½ tsp belacan fermented shrimp paste optional, you can use Thai gapi paste or another tsp fish sauce
Instructions
- Place spice paste ingredients in a small food processor and whizz until fine.
- Heat some oil in a large heavy based pot over high heat. Add half of the beef and brown, then remove onto a plate. Repeat with remaining beef.
- Lower heat to medium to low add the spice paste and cook for 2 – 3 minutes, until the wetness has reduced and the spice paste darkens.
- Add remaining curry ingredients and beef, stir to combine.
- Bring to simmer then immediately turn down the heat to low or medium to low so the sauce is bubbling very gently.
- Put the lid on the pot and leave it to simmer for 1 hr 45 minutes.
- Remove lid and check the beef to see how tender it is. You don't want it to be "fall apart at a touch" at this stage, but it should be quite tender. If it is falling apart already, remove the beef from the pot before proceeding.
- Remove dry spices, such as lemongrass stalks and cinnamon. Turn up the heat to medium and reduce the sauce for 30 – 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
- Stir more frequently when the beef darkens in colour and the sauce reduces to a paste that coats the beef.
- The beef should now be very tender and fall apart at a touch. If not, add a splash of water and keep cooking.
- Serve with Plain Rice, Sambal Oolek and Indonesian Acar
Indonesian Achar
- Slice the cucumber in two and removes seeds with a spoon. Cut into batons
- Peel the carrots and cut into batons.
- Place the carrots and cucumber in a bowl and sprinkle a liberal sprinkling of salt.
- Move the salted carrots and cucumbers onto a tissue paper lined tray and leave to air dry for 4 hours, ideally overnight.
- In a saucepan, sauté the onions, red chillies, garlic, ginger and lemongrass
- After the mixture softens and becomes translucent, add sugar followed by wine vinegar.
- After the cucumbers and carrots have air dried. Mix the achar paste into the veggies.
- Taste for salt and add amend as necessary. The achar is ready to eat but taste better after refrigerating overnight.
Sambal Oolek
- Dice the onion, red chilli and garlic
- In a saucepan, sauté the onions, red chillies and garlic until they soften and become translucent.
- Add salt, sugar and Belacan paste (optional). Belacan is potent. Turn on your extractor fans or cook outside.
- After 1 minute add the rice wine vinegar and fish sauce.
- Allow to cool and then place in a sterile jar. The sambal oolek is ready to eat but taste better after refrigerating overnight.