Beef Rendang
Beef Rendang Source: Occasions Magazine
I've only made this a few times, but it's been delicious each time. Spicy, though less than you might expect, and while the title says beef that isn't a hard and fast rule. The recipe says venison would work, I've had success with pork, and the daring could try chicken or moose or something else entirely. (Do mention in <Cooking> if you try something exotic!)
Advisory: Be careful with the blender step. Steam can be a thing, enough that you might have to hold down the lid depending on water temperature, and the fumes will be capsaicin incarnate. Open away from your face!
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2-ish lbs) of meat of choice, cut into bite-size chunks
- 10 dried chili peppers
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 onions (or half a dozen shallots)
- 6-8 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 inch peeled fresh ginger root
- 3 stalks lemongrass, with bottoms/tips/hard exteriors removed
- 1 cup dried sweetened coconut
- 2 tbsp oil
- 3 cloves
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 2 tomatoes, diced (or a can of diced tomatoes if it's winter)
- 2 tsp salt (or more, or less)
- 1 can coconut milk
Instructions
Soak the chili peppers in the warm water for 10 minutes, enough to soften them a bit. Put chilis and water both in a blender, and blend until smooth. Add the onions/shallots, garlic, ginger, and lemongrass to the blender, and blend until you have a spice paste.
Put a large wok or pot on medium, and dry-roast the coconut until starting to turn golden brown. Remove the coconut from the pot, add the oil, and then the cloves and cinnamon. Cook the cloves and cinnamon for about a minute.
Add the spice paste to the pot, along with the tomatoes. Cook for five minutes, until coming to a boil, then add the meat. Let cook, covered, for about twenty minutes. Add the coconut milk and salt, then cook for five minutes more, uncovered.
Add the toasted coconut, and serve. Goes well with rice, and reportedly reheats nicely. Makes a big batch, 8-10 servings.
Back to The Kitchen Sink.
