Beef Rendang

I got home early today to cook some rendang. I acquired a recipe from Hari Raya and decided to try it out. Did I mention that I love rendang? Heh, heh, heh... ada faham kah? Anyways, back to the recipe. You'll need the following:-

1kg beef, I used topside

2 small packets curry powder for meat or chicken, Adabi

1 inch galangal

10 serai

20 dried chilli, soaked

1 bulb garlic

20 shallots

1 inch young ginger

1 inch turmeric

500 ml water

2 pieces asam keping

1 daun kunyit, finely shredded

2 packets coconut milk

1 packet kerisik

seasoning

Some of the ingredients used. For those who don't know, starting clockwise at the top is serai (lemongrass), kunyit (turmeric), young ginger, lengkuas (galangal), shallots and garlic. Daun kunyit (turmeric leaf) and onion on top.

First of all, slice or cube your beef depending on how you like it. Keep in mind shrinkage over the long cooking process. My guess is almost 40% shrinkage. So if you slice it too small and thin then it would literally 'dissolve' by the end of it. Then marinate the beef with some seasoning and half the curry powder for at least 30 minutes.

Then proceed to peel and prepare the ground ingredients. I'd recommend you split it into two batches, the galangal and serai separate from the others. I'd also recommend that you slice the galangal and serai or even chop it up before blending. Two reasons for this... to preserve your blender's blade and to ensure that it is grounded fine. Obviously you'll need some water to blend the ingredients and that's where you can use the 500 ml of water.

Heat some oil in a large pot or wok, enough to sauté the ground ingredients. When the oil is smoking, add the ground ingredients and remaining curry powder and sauté till fragrant, about 15 minutes. Add the beef and when it begins to simmer add the asam keping, daun kunyit and coconut milk. Allow to simmer gently over a low fire till meat is tender and the mixture thick. I cooked mine for about 3 hours. Remember to stir occasionally to avoid the mixture from sticking and burning to the base. How thick the rendang should be is a matter of preference. Some like it very dry and some like it runny. Add the kerisik in the last 10 minutes of cooking and season to taste. When you've cooked often enough you tend to know how much seasoning is needed and when cooking braised dishes like this I prefer to add my seasoning in the beginning allowing room for 'fine-tuning' add the end. This way the meat will be more flavourful.

If you're too lazy to peel shallots then you can just replace them with large onions which is why there is a large onion there in the picture as I added that in.

This is the end result... slightly runny for me. Alamak, I am hungry already from this blog.