Malaysian beef rendang
by
- Main
- Medium
- 8
- 3 hours 15 minutes
PT3H15M
Beef rendang is one of Malaysia's most recognisable and universally loved dishes, and is often served at celebrations and ceremonial occasions as well as for religious festivals like Eid. Mandy's version takes inspiration from the aromas of her mother's kitchen – toasted coconut, lemongrass, kaffir lime, cinnamon, tamarind and chilli – to create a dish that touches every corner of your palate. As Mandy says herself, rendang is labour-intensive and gets better with time, so it's always worth making in big batches!
Ingredients
- 1kg beef shin , chuck or cheek, trimmed of all excess tough sinew and cut into 2.5cm cubes
- 3 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 400g of coconut milk
- 60g of palm sugar, or dark brown sugar
- 3 tbsp of tamarind paste
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 star anise
- 3 cardamom pods , bashed to release the seeds
- 5 cloves
- 200g of coconut cream
- 50g of desiccated coconut
- 1 red chilli , sliced, to garnish
- cucumber , chopped, to garnish
Rendang spice paste
- 1 tbsp of salt
- 2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 large white onion , peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 knob of galangal, or ginger (thumb-sized), peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves , peeled
- 2 lemongrass stalks , white bottom part only, roughly chopped
- 20 dried chillies , soaked in hot water overnight
- 10 makrut lime leaves , destemmed
Method
1
Soak the dried chillies for the rendang spice paste overnight before using. The next day, add the chillies to a blender with the rest of the spice paste ingredients and blend until smooth
2
Place a pan over a medium heat and, once hot, add the vegetable oil with the spice paste, cinnamon stick, star anise, cardamom pods and cloves. Fry for a few minutes until aromatic
3
Add the sugar, tamarind paste and coconut milk, stir to combine and heat through for a few minutes
4
Add the diced beef, stir to combine then reduce the heat to low. Cook with a lid on for 2 hours, stirring every few minutes to prevent sticking
5
Towards the end of those two hours, add the coconut cream to a bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Stir, microwave for another minute, then stir again. Microwave for one more minute and stir well – the coconut cream should be a nice golden-brown colour
6
After the 2 hours of cooking, add the darkened coconut cream to the pan, then cook with a lid on for 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes
7
Remove the lid from the pan and cook for a final 30 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking
8
Meanwhile, toast the desiccated coconut in a hot, dry, non-stick frying pan until golden
9
Serve the rendang sprinkled with desiccated coconut and some sliced red chilli, chopped cucumber and rice
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Malaysian beef rendang
