Malaysian · Main · Served at Daun Pisang (#4)
Beef rendang
Rendang is beef cooked slowly in coconut milk and spices until the liquid is gone and the meat fries in its own oil. Kerisik, a paste of toasted coconut, goes in for the last hour. Don't cut the fry-dry at the end short.
Cut the beef large, 3 to 4 inches, because smaller pieces fall apart over five hours. Chuck is the right cut. I serve it with nasi lemak.
- Yield
- Serves 4
- Time
- About 5 hours
Ingredients
Serves
Beef and braise
- 1 kg (2.2 lb)beef chuck, 3–4" chunks
- 2 cans (800 ml)full-fat coconut milk
- ½ cupwater to start. More only if needed
- ½ cupkerisik (from ¾ cup desiccated coconut)
- 2 stalkslemongrass, bruised
- 1 tbspfinely shredded kaffir lime leaves (~5 leaves)
- 1–2turmeric leaves (daun kunyit), if you have them
- 1 tsptamarind concentrate in 1 tbsp warm water
- 2–3 tsppalm sugar. Start low, kerisik is already sweet
- Salt
- 1 tbspkecap manis, optional, for gloss
- 1cinnamon stick
- 2star anise
- 2–3cloves
- 2cardamom pods
Rempah
- 5shallots
- 1large onion
- 5garlic cloves
- 2 stalkslemongrass, white part
- 5–8large dried red chilies, soaked and seeded (or 3–4 tbsp chili paste)
- 1½"galangal
- ½"fresh turmeric (or ½ tsp ground)
- 1"ginger
- 2–3candlenuts (or macadamia)
- 1¼ tspcoriander seeds, toasted and ground
- ¼ tspcumin seeds, toasted and ground
- ¼ tspfennel seeds, ground
Kerisik
- ¾ cupdesiccated coconut
Method
- Make the kerisik first. Rehydrate the desiccated coconut for 1 hour.
- Toast it in a dry pan on low, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes to golden. Pull it immediately.
- Blend 3 to 5 minutes until the oils release and it's a thick dark paste. You get about ½ cup.
- Blend the rempah completely smooth, with a splash of oil if it won't move.
- Sear the beef in batches in a hot skillet until well browned on at least two sides, then set it aside.
- In a 5 to 6 quart Dutch oven, fry the whole spices in 2 tbsp oil until fragrant, then add the rempah. Cook on medium 10 to 15 minutes, until the raw smell is gone and oil pools at the edges.
- Return the beef. Add the coconut milk, ½ cup water (just enough to barely cover), lemongrass, lime leaves, tamarind, and turmeric leaves.
- Partial lid, low heat. Stir every 15 to 20 minutes. Simmer 3 to 4 hours.
- Add the kerisik in the last hour, then the palm sugar and salt.
- Take the lid off and raise the heat slightly for the fry-dry stage, 30 to 45 minutes. The liquid is mostly gone and the beef is frying in the coconut oil, so stay at the stove.
- Stir constantly. It goes dark chocolate brown, with the sauce clinging like a glaze.
- It's done when the oil has fully separated, the beef is deeply caramelized, and almost no sauce remains.
- Stir in the kecap manis in the last minutes if using.
Notes
- If it catches on the bottom, add a tiny splash of water and stir.
- Kerisik keeps 2 weeks in the fridge, or you can buy it at a Malaysian grocer.
- Reheat on low with a splash of water. The meat re-absorbs liquid. Do not boil.
- It's better after a day or three in the fridge.
