Authentic Indonesian Beef Rendang Recipe: A Step-by-Step Guide
Among the world's culinary delights, identifying the absolute best can be challenging. Is it sushi, beef rendang, or perhaps lasagne? While you might have your guesses, the true answer may surprise you.
According to a survey involving 35,000 respondents, the crown for the world's most delicious food goes to rendang, a dish hailing from West Sumatra, Indonesia.
This rich and flavourful beef dish, slow-cooked with an array of aromatic spices, has captured people's hearts and taste buds worldwide.
If you want to learn about the recipe for beef rendang, then continue reading this blog.
Introducing The Beef Rendang From Sumatra
Beef rendang is a special dish from Indonesia, particularly from a place called Minangkabau in Sumatra. People make it for important events and celebrations.
It's tasty because it's cooked slowly with lots of herbs and spices until the meat soaks up all the flavours. It's usually served with rice, fried onions, and chilli.
The good news is you don't have to go all the way to Indonesia to try it! You can make it at home using this recipe.
It's the real deal, tested in my kitchen based on traditional recipes from Indonesia. It's also popular in Malaysia, especially during big festivals like Eid al-Fitr.
Ingredients
Ingredients (A)
- 1 kg beef
- 600 ml of coconut cream
- 100 ml of vegetable oil
Ingredients (B) - To Blend
- 4 x candlenuts
- 12 x cloves chopped garlic
- 300 g red chilli (Serrano chilli/pepper)
- 250g for the onions
- 50g for the ginger
- 50g of galangal
- 25g of ground turmeric or 50g of fresh turmeric
- 1½ tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp of sugar
- 4 x green cardamom pods
- 11/2 tbsp of cumin seeds
- 10 x cloves
Ingredients © - Seasoning And Spices
- 4 stalks of lemongrass which are bashed
- 3 pieces of kaffir lime leaves
- 1 piece of asam keping
- 2 turmeric leaves that are tied up
Step-By-Step Instructions To Make Indonesian Beef Rendang
Step 1
Cut the beef into squares that are 4 centimetres wide and half a centimetre thick. But don't cut it too small, because it might break apart while cooking.
Step 2
Mix the spices. Blend all the ingredients then put the mix aside. You can find most of these spices at Asian markets. You can use ground ones if you can't find whole spices. Just make sure to check the expiration date to get the freshest ground spices for your rendang.
Step 3
Hit the lemongrass. Take off the green part and the outer layer. Use only the white part. Hit them, so the lemongrass releases its flavour.
Step 4
Cook the spices. Put vegetable oil in a pan and heat it. Cook the spice mix on low heat until it smells really good.
Step 5
Add the coconut milk and lemongrass to the curry paste in the pan.
Step 6
Put the beef in and cook on medium heat until the coconut milk boils.
Step 7
Let it simmer. Once it's boiling, let it simmer on low heat. If it starts to dry out, add some water sometimes.
Step 8
Cook until it's tender and dark brown. Keep cooking until the beef soaks up all the spice flavours and turns dark brown. This usually takes about three hours.
If you want to cook it faster, you can use an Instant Pot or another brand of multicooker. These usually have a setting for cooking beef. Just remember to use less water if you're pressure-cooking the beef.
Important Tips For Making Beef Rendang
Use The Right Type Of Chilli
To ensure the right level of spiciness, it's important to use the local Serrano chilli and follow the recommended amount of 300g for every 1kg of beef.
Some people personally prefer removing the seeds and pith to decrease the heat while keeping the flavour intact. Reducing the amount of chilli to 200g is advisable for those who prefer milder dishes.
Cut The Galangal Into Small Pieces
We need to do this step because blending the galangal with the food processor alone won't work well. Before we cook, we must blend the galangal, garlic, onions, and chilli. This creates a paste that sticks to the beef and gives it lots of flavour.
Everything except galangal cooks down easily, but galangal doesn't. If we leave big pieces of galangal, they won't soften even after hours of cooking. This would make the dish unpleasant to eat because you'd be chewing on hard chunks of galangal.
So, blending them all together first is important.
Final Thoughts
We really hope that the recipe for rendang we've shared in this blog post helps you make beef rendang just like they do it in Indonesia. Following these steps can take you on a tasty adventure to experience the flavours of Indonesian food. From the spicy spices to the tender beef, every bite will remind you of this amazing dish. So, gather your ingredients, start cooking, and enjoy the delicious smell of beef rendang in your kitchen!
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