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BEEF RENDANG

Rendang is a spicy meat dish which originated from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia, and is now commonly served across the country. One of the characteristic foods of Minangkabau culture, it is served at ceremonial occasions and to honour guests. Rendang is also served among the Malay community in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Southern Philippines. Rendang is traditionally prepared by the Minangkabau community during festive occasions such as traditional ceremonies, wedding feasts and Hari Raya (Eid al-Fitr). This Beef Rendang was one of the dishes I learned how to cook one rainy afternoon at Russel Wong's home (yes, the Russel Wong from Bourdain's Singapore espisode). His wife Judy can cook about as well as Russel can shoot a portrait, after an afternoon sweating over a wok, we were sitting down with friends to an eight course feast in Russel's photo studio. While it was tough picking a favorite dish from that night, I found myself going back to the Rendang more than any other dish.


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Recipe of Beef Rendang

Ingredients for Beef Rendang
» 1 teaspoon
» Salt 1 teaspoon
» Ground coriander
» Seed 1/4 teaspoon
» Fresh ginger (roughly chopped)
» 4 large cloves
» Garlic (roughly chopped) 200 grams
» Shallots (4 large shallots roughly chopped) 3 tablespoons
» Chili pepper flakes (to taste) 2 tablespoons
» Vegetable oil 900 grams
» Beef shanks or shortribs(cut into large cubes)
» Stalks lemongrass(white part only, smashed) 4 Kaffir lime leaves 2.5 centimeters
» Galangal(sliced into coins) 2 packs
» Coconut Cream Powder (or 1 can coconut milk) 1 tablespoons
» Palm sugar(brown sugar can be substituted)

How to cook Beef Rendang
» rinse the red beans with running water
» soak red beans in water for two hours
» put the red beans, pandan leaves and water into a pot
» bring water to a boil
» lower heat and simmer until red beans start to become soft
» stir regularly
» put in sugar and cooked until red beans become mushy
» you will also notice the water drying up
» remove from heat and allow red beans to cool
How to cook palm sugar syrup for ice kacang
» Add all the salt, coriander, turmeric, ginger, garlic, shallots, and chili flakes to a food processor
» Run until there are no clumps left and you have a smooth spice paste.
» You'll need to scape the bowl down a few times.
» Add the oil to a heavy bottomed pot and heat over medium high heat until shimmering.
» Fry the beef in batches, allowing each surface to brown before turning.
» Transfer the browned beef to a bowl and repeat with the remaining meat.
» Add the lemongrass, lime leaves and galangal to the hot oil and fry until fragrant.
» Transfer to the bowl with the browned beef, leaving the oil in the pot.
» Turn down the heat to medium low, and then add the spice paste.
» Fry, stirring constantly until very fragrant and most of the moisture has evaporated (about 10-15 minutes).
» If the paste starts burning, reduce the heat and add a bit of water.
» Rehydrate the coconut cream powder in 2 cups of water and then add it to the pot along with the palm sugar.
» Return the beef and herbs to the pot, stir to combine the turn the heat down to medium low and loosely cover with a lid (you want some steam to escape).
» Stir the rendang periodically and simmer for 3-4 hours until the meat is very tender.
» Once the meat is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated (about 4 hours), remove the lid and turn up the heat.
» At this point there should be quite a bit of oil in the pot from the meat so you're essentially frying the sauce and concentrating the flavors.
» You'll need to stir the mixture constantly to prevent it from burning, but you want to evaporate as much liquid as you can without burning the meat.Keep in mind that oil does not evaporate, so you will still have a bit of oil at the bottom of the pan.
» The rendang is done when there is almost no sauce left and the meat is dark brown.
» Ideally you'll let this sit overnight for the flavors to evenly distribute into the meat.
» During this time, the meat will turn chocolate colored and the flavors will deepen.
» Serve the beef rendang with steamed rice.