Quick and easy

Rendang is a spicy meat dish which originated from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia, and is now commonly served across the country. One of the characteristic foods of Minangkabau culture, it is served at ceremonial occasions and to honour guests. Rendang is also served among the Malay community in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Southern Philippines. In 2011 an online poll by 35,000 people held by CNN International chose rendang as the number one dish of their ‘World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods (Readers’ Pick)’ list.”

Mom usually has a very lazy take on making rendang, she uses a pre-made paste from the packet. I’ve decided to attempt in making rendang from scratch as I know this isn’t a difficult dish to master. It obviously takes a little bit of patience and time to get the taste and colour right.  Here’s my first attempt in making rendang but remember Rendang is not rendang if it has sauce and always remember it taste better the next day!

You will need:

Blend:
1 teaspoon corriander seed
1/4 teaspoon of tumeric powder or fresh tumeric
1 (2.5cm) ginger
4 clove of garlic
4-5 shallots
2-3(+ optional) tablespoon chilli powder
2 fresh chilli (optional)

Sauce:
1 tablespoon oil
900g beef shanks/topside beef
2 lemon grass stalks
4 kaffir leaves
2.5 cm galangal
1 tin of coconut milk
50g desiccated coconut
1 tablespoon of palm sugar
Seasoned with salt

Start by blending the spices till it becomes a smooth paste, it needs to have a spicy/gingery pick. Pre-heat the wok on medium to high heat and add abit of oil and add the paste till fragrant. Mix in the beef cuts along with the lemongrass, sliced galangal and kaffir leaves into the wok and cook out the paste for 10-15mins till the moisture has evaporated, if the paste starts to burn, add a little bit of water and lower the heat. Gently add the tin of coconut, palm sugar, lightly roasted desiccated coconut and salt before loosely covering it with a lid.  Lower the heat to medium low and leave to simmer for up to 3-4hrs till the meat is tender, occasionally giving it a stir. Once tender and sauce has evaporated, remove the lid and bring bring the heat up to high heat; at this stage, there should be a little bit of oil to fry the sauce. Keep stirring to prevent the beef from sticking and burning, the sauce needs to evaporate as much as possible by then. Once there is almost no sauce left and the meat has darkened, it’s ready to be served. Eat with basmati rice and finely chopped pineapple, cucumber and chilli salad.