Beef Rendang

Beef Rendang is a very popular Malaysian cuisine. Traditionally a Malay cuisine, this delicacy has transcended culture, race and creed to become our national food.

"In 2011 an online poll by 35000 people held by CNN international chose Rendang as the number one dish of their "World's 50 Most Delicious Foods' list."source: Wikipedia.

Rendang comes in many different variations. Some are spicier, some sweeter and some more savoury. Regardless of which versions you try, you will definitely fall in love with this heavenly food.

My beef rendang recipe comes from a friend of mine, Umol. It was during a Malaysian student gathering that i got to try her beef rendang. And the moment i tasted it, i knew i must get the recipe from her. I've did some minor modifications to the original recipe. Having a Chinese gene, i can't take too spicy food, so i've toned down the level of spiciness and increased the sweetness of the dish.

This dish takes hours to prepare, so allow sufficient time for the meat to cook slowly, in order to get the best taste of it. Save this dish for special occasions to delight your friends and family, and i bet everyone will enjoy it!

Ingredients:

1kg                   Beef (cut into pieces)

5                       Shallots

1                       Onion

3 cloves            Garlic

5                       Chilli (more if you can tolerate the heat and spiciness)

1 inch                Galangal*

1 inch                Ginger

2 stalks              Lemongrass

5 pieces             Kaffir lime leaves

1 tsp                  Turmeric powder

                          Oil

1 small can         coconut milk

                          water

                          sweet soy sauce (ABC brand) **

                          salt to taste

3-5 tbsp             Kerisik***

* Galangal is from the ginger family. It has stronger taste than normal ginger and is widely used in South East Asian cooking.

** ABC sweet soy sauce is an Indonesian brand sweet soy sauce. If you can't find one, any sweet soy sauce will do.

**Kerisik ,also known as coconut butter, is used in Malaysian and Indonesian cooking. The coconut is grated, roasted and then ground to a paste. If you can't find it in stores, you can make it yourself. I'll explain it later.

1. Traditionall all the spices (shallots, onion, garlic, chilli, galangal, ginger, lemongrass,turmeric powder) are pounded using mortar and pestle. To save time, i just put everything into a blender and blend.

2. Heat up oil. Fry all the spices until fragrant. Add in kaffir lime leaves and meat.

3. Add coconut milk,a bit of water and let it boil. Reduce heat and let it simmer for 2-3 hours or until the meat is soft, tender and breaks apart easily. Stir occasionally to prevent the meat from getting burnt. Once the water evaporates, the meat will absorb the spicy condiments.

4. Add in sweet soya sauce and salt. Adjust the amount according to your personal preference.

5.Finally add in kerisik and stir until the liquid dries up.

How to make kerisik

Get the grated coconut used for making pastries. Heat up wok, put in grated coconut and stir frequently until the coconut turns brown. Mix the roasted coconut with oil and pound them using mortar and pestle. An easier option will be to put the roasted coconut and oil into the blender and blend them. That's it!