← Nouns Cooking · Malaysian & Singaporean

Ingredients

• 1 kg beef chuck or shin, cut into 4 cm cubes
• 12 Dried chillies, snipped, seeds removed, soaked in hot water
• 8 Shallot, peeled
• 5 cloves Garlic
• 3 Lemongrass, white part only, sliced
• 3 cm piece Galangal, sliced
• 3 cm piece Ginger, sliced
• 2 cm piece fresh turmeric (or 1 tsp ground), peeled
• 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 3 Star anise
• 4 whole cloves
• 4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 2 Lemongrass, bruised and knotted
• 400 ml Coconut milk
• 250 ml Water
• 1 tbsp Tamarind paste
• 6 Makrut (kaffir) lime leaves, torn
• 40 g desiccated coconut, for the kerisik
• 1 tbsp Palm sugar, grated
• 1½ tsp Salt

Method

1. Make the kerisik: toast the desiccated coconut in a dry pan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for 6–8 min until it is an even deep golden brown. While warm, pound or grind it until it turns oily and pasty.
2. Drain the chillies and blend them with the shallots, garlic, sliced lemongrass, galangal, ginger and turmeric into a smooth paste, adding a little water if needed.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Fry the cinnamon, star anise, cloves and cardamom for 30 seconds, then add the paste and fry, stirring, for 8–10 min until it darkens, smells fragrant and the oil starts to separate.
4. Add the beef and the knotted lemongrass and stir for 3 min to coat every piece. Pour in the coconut milk and water, add the tamarind and lime leaves, and bring to the boil.
5. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer, set the lid ajar and cook for 1½ hours, stirring now and then so nothing catches on the bottom.
6. Stir in the kerisik, palm sugar and salt, then keep cooking uncovered for about 1 hour. Stir more often as the sauce thickens; turn the heat down near the end. It is done when the sauce has reduced to a thick, dark brown coating, oil glistens on the surface and the beef is fork-tender.
7. Taste for salt and sugar, fish out the whole spices if you like, and let it rest for 10 min before serving with rice, ketupat or lemang.

Tips

• Rendang tastes even better the next day, so it is a great make-ahead dish. Cool it quickly and keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days.
• Malaysian rendang is usually a little moister than the very dry Minang (Sumatran) style; for a drier result, keep frying after the sauce has thickened, stirring all the time.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

RecipeTin Eats Roti n Rice