The BEST Beef Rendang Recipe

Ingredients

• 600 g -1kg Beef for stewing, chuck or short ribs
• 2 Lemongrass, bruised
• 1 Cinnamon
• 3 Star Anise
• 5 Cloves 5 Cardamom
• 5 -6 Makrut Lime Leaves
• 1 tsp Tamarind Paste + 2 tbsp Water*
• 500 ml Coconut Cream or Santan
• 1 tbsp Coconut Palm Sugar or Gula Melaka, or to taste
• 2 tsps Salt, or to taste
• 120 g Toasted Coconut Butter or Kerisik
• 1 cup Water (if needed)
• 1/4 cup Cooking Oil
• 1 -2 tbsps Dried Chilli Paste or 10 Dried Chillies, soaked in boiling water, cut and deseeded
• 1 Onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 Garlic, peeled
• 1 inch Ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 inch Galangal, roughly chopped
• 1 inch Fresh Turmeric or 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 tsp Coriander Seeds
• 1 tsp Fennel
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1/4 cup Water, for easier blending (optional)

Instructions

1. Make the Spice Paste
2. Blend onion, garlic, ginger, galangal, turmeric, coriander, fennel, cumin, and dried chilli paste or rehydrated dried chilies, until smooth. Note: If using dried chilies, rehydrate by soaking in boiling water first for about 5 minutes until softened. Deseed, and then cut into smaller pieces for easier blending.
3. Add a splash of water (or oil) if needed, to move the blender along, but keep the paste thick, not watery.
4. Fry the Whole Spices and Paste
5. Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and cardamom. Fry 1 minute until fragrant.
6. Stir in blended spice paste. Saute about 5 minutes, stirring often, until fragrant and the paste has dried down slightly and deepened in colour. Stir constantly so spice paste doesn’t stick and burn. If needed, add more oil.
7. Add Beef and Lemongrass
8. Add bruised lemongrass stalks and beef chunks. Stir to coat beef in spices.
9. Cook until beef releases juices and liquid mostly evaporates (about 10 minutes). The beef should also have shrunk in size.
10. Add Coconut and Seasonings
11. Stir in coconut cream or milk, salt, palm sugar, makrut lime leaves (tear or bruise first to release flavours), tamarind paste and kerisik. Stir to combine. You should have a saucy pot at this stage. Turn the heat up to let it come to a boil.
12. Increase heat to medium-high. Bring mixture to a gentle boil.
13. Simmer Low and Slow
14. Once boiling, immediately reduce heat to the lowest setting possible on your stovetop. Cover with a lid. We will be letting this simmer gently for 2 hours, minimum.
15. Every 20–30 minutes, return to the pot to stir well. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a spatula to prevent burning. If the gravy is drying out before beef is tender, add a splash of water.
16. Final Reduction
17. In last 30 minutes, keep a closer eye on the Rendang as it will be more prone to burning. Stir more frequently, every 5 minutes or so. Oil would have separated already — this is a sign it’s almost ready.
18. Sauce should reduce until thick, dark brown, and clings to beef. The beef should be fork-tender by now. NOTE: Rendang is a “dry curry,” so it should not be soupy. However, if you prefer more sauce to your rendang, stir in more water and let it come back up to a boil without drying it out further. Turn off the heat.
19. Final tasting and serve!
20. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed (more salt or sugar).
21. Once you have: fork-tender beef coated in rich, caramelized paste, rendang is ready!