Monday 5 May 2014

Malaysian Beef Rendang


Apparently  CNN poll said that it thought that Malaysian Beef Rendang was the most delicious food in the world.
I'd eaten it in a Malay restaurant in China Town in London and enjoyed it there but had never tried to make it.
I spent some time browsing the internet for recipes, tending to focus on Indonesian and Malay sites to keep things as authentic as possible.
What I did then was to amalgamate a couple and here is the recipe:-

Ingredients
1.25 kg Stewing beef or a roasting joint cut into 3-4 cm pieces ( I used a topside joint)
Rempah or Curry paste
2 medium brown onions, peeled, roughly chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly sliced
2 1/2 Tbs ground coriander
1 1/2 Tbs ground fennel
1 1/2 Tbs ground cumin
1 tsp ground black pepper
3-5 red chillies - depending on how hot you like it
4 stalks lemongrass, white part only, dry outer layers removed, finely sliced
3 cm galangal (fattest part), peeled and finely sliced (if you can get it)
3 cm fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced
1 Tbs tamarind paste – easily found in a jar at supermarkets or Asian grocers
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
Other
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
6 cardamom pods
800 ml coconut milk
150g kerisik (150g desiccated coconut required - see method)
Extra brown sugar and salt to balance at the end

Method


Combine all rempah ingredients in a blender and blitz into a smooth paste. Pour into a large mixing bowl together with beef and mix thoroughly. Cover, refrigerate and leave to marinate overnight or for 2 hours at minimum. I poured it all into a zip-lock bag with the beef - sealed it and left it over night in the fridge.

To cook, transfer meat into a large non-stick saucepan. Add remaining ingredients except kerisik and cook uncovered on a low to medium heat until half the liquid has evaporated. Stir occasionally to check the mixture is not catching on the bottom. Again it depends how you feel about it but I did this all in a slow cooker on low for about 6-7 hours, then emptied it out in to a hot wok to reduce the sauce. I also added a sliced red pepper at this stage to add a bit of colour.

To make kerisik, simply dry toast 150g desiccated coconut in a medium frypan, tossing regularly until it develops a deep golden brown. Transfer to a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder to grind into a grainy paste.

Add kerisik and cook until the rendang develops into a dark brown with most of the liquid evaporated and beef tender. This should take 1 - 1 1/2 hours (when not in a slow cooker).
Check seasoning, add salt/sugar if necessary 

Serve immediately with steamed jasmine rice and fresh cucumberand another drizzle of coconut milk.

 

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