Beef rendang is (understandably) a dish loved by many – after all, it’s hard not to love tender chunks of beef cooked slowly in a collection of spices, herbs and coconut milk until full of flavour.
Rendang is usually prepared as a celebration dish or for a special occasion. It takes a fair bit of time to make, as it is braised slowly to reduce the liquid component to practically nothing until the final dish browns and caramelises in the oils released by the meat and coconut milk.
The consensus is that rendang originated in Indonesia, specifically West Sumatra, though it has been adopted by neighbouring counties in the region, most notably Malaysia. [Trawling around the internet for rendang information has also provided an interesting sideline in people fiercely defending their connections to the dish, with people getting serious enough to suggest filing a patent].
As a result, a quick search online will show you a ton of recipes for rendang, and these vary as much as the people who cook it. So what should we consider to be the foundation of a good rendang? Again, this will be open to interpretation, but here’s mine, based on no authority whatsoever except as provided by my tastebuds…
As suggested by the post title, I’ve deviated here in terms of the cooking method, opting to cook the whole thing in the oven rather than on the stove. By opting for a large non-stick roasting pan, it can do its thing for most of the cooking time with minimal fussing, and the larger exposed surface area allows liquid to evaporate more rapidly. Plus by using a non-stick pan, you minimize the problem of burning and sticking in the final frying stage.
It is usually agreed that rendang should be be pretty much dry, which immediately distinguishes it from other curries with a sauce or “gravy”. And I mean pretty dry, with very little to no liquid component left in the final offering. And I don’t think there’s any argument that the liquid part will always be coconut milk.
You’ll find different combinations of spices and aromatics – some recipes might use both, others leave out spice in favour of aromatics. All will feature chilies with some element of fresh aromatics like tumeric, galanagal or lemongrass to create the base of the rendang’s flavour.
To me, rendang should be rich and complex, hence to achieve that I use a combination of ground and whole spices with a range of aromatics. I also like to make sure my rendang has a good balance of hot, sour, sweet and salty, so I add palm sugar (the dark variety) and tamarind for sweet and sour, and soy and fish sauce for extra umami-ness and salt content.
One element that does vary a bit more is the addition of toasted shredded coconut, called kerisik. It appears to be more common in Malay-style preparations, but I could well be wrong. The toasted coconut is added a little later in the cooking process, and both helps as a thickener and imparts a deep, toasted note.
I did a little bit of testing on a couple of areas, namely what difference it makes to A: fry the spice mix off beforehand, and B: add the kerisik.
Basically, adding kerisik provides a greater depth of flavour and extra toastiness as mentioned earlier. Frying the spice paste has less of an overall impact, but as you’d expect the caramelisation from the frying helps to round everything out.
On the other hand, going with a non-fried paste and no kerisik delivers a lighter almost zingier result, presumably allowing the more delicate aromas to shine through. So some food for thought there – you may wish to experiment a little with this aspect if you wish.
So finally, here’s the recipe! It makes a lot, but you might as well do a big batch if you’re going to spend a few hours doing it. And just as well you’re going to be making a big batch, because it will taste even better the next day!
- 1.5 Kilograms stewing beef cut into 5 x 2.5 cm chunks
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1.5 teaspoons white peppercorns
- 4 cloves cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick (8 centimetres long)
- 4 green cardamon pods
- 2 black cardamon pods (optional)
- 1 star anise
- 15 grams dried chili soaked, drained and chopped
- 35 grams fresh chili deseed half if less heat is preferred
- 350 grams shallots (can substitute red onion if necessary)
- 40 grams garlic
- 150 grams lemongrass (about 4 stalks) tender white parts only, finely sliced
- 25 grams galangal chopped
- 25 grams ginger chopped
- 15 grams fresh tumeric chopped
- 1 tablespoon shrimp paste
- 3 tablespoons oil (any neutral oil will do)
- 50 grams tamarind pulp mixed with 125ml hot water and strained
- 40 grams palm sugar (dark sugar preferred)
- 6 kaffir lime leaves
- 20 centimetre pandan leaf tied into a knot
- 800 mililitres coconut milk (two regular tins)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 100 grams shredded coconut either fresh (frozen) or dessicated is fine
- Preheat the oven to 130°C or 260°F.
- Toast the cumin, coriander and fennel seeds, peppercorns and cloves in a small pan until fragrant and lightly browned. Finely grind in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
- In a food processor or mortar and pestle, blend together the aromatics until it forms as smooth a paste as you can - it will depend on your machine (or your arm strength!). Don't worry if it's a little bit grainy, it's not the end of the world as there will be plenty of time to cook it out.
- In a large (34 x 26 cm) non-stick oven-proof roasting pan, heat the 3 tablespoons of oil on the stove and start to fry the aromatics paste for a couple of minutes, then add both the ground and whole spices (cinnamon stick, cardamons and clove) and cook over medium high heat until the paste softens and dries out a little. [You don't have to caramelise it too much as it will continue to brown at the final stage of cooking.]
- Add the coconut milk and the tamarind, sugar, kaffir lime, pandan and soy and fish sauces and stir to combine. Add the beef, mix well and bring to a simmer.
- Cover the whole thing tightly with aluminium foil and cook in the oven for 4 hours, checking and stirring at hour intervals.
- While the rendang is cooking, prepare the kerisik. Place the coconut in a dry pan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently.
- Toast the coconut until it turns a nutty, biscuit-brown. This can be anything from 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the type of coconut you're using and its moisture content.
- Let the coconut cool a little, and then process in a food processor till finely ground, almost like crumbs. If you're so inclined, it can be processed for even longer or hand ground until it forms an oily paste, but I never really bother to get that far myself. Set aside. If you prefer to have the grainier texture of the coconut in the final rendang, you can skip this step.
- After 4 hours, remove the foil and stir in the kerisik. Increase the oven temperature to 180°C or 350°F and continue to cook uncovered for a further hour, allowing the liquid to boil away in the oven, stirring every 15 minutes or so to prevent sticking. At this point, you will want the meat to fry a little in the oils that have been cooked out, and the dish is done when all the liquid has evaporated, and the meat has browned a little.
- Serve with plenty of steamed rice, maybe some steamed veg and pickles.