Our recipe is a nod to traditional rendang with deep beef flavor, rich coconut, and spicy chiles but it’s not quite as labor intensive nor does it incorporate all the awesome and unique (but sometimes hard to acquire) spices. Rendang typically has a lot more aromatics (anise, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, galangal, lime leaf, turmeric, lemongrass, tamarind etc) and this rad ingredient called kerisik - freshly ground coconut that's toasted and then worked into a paste. It's also typically made with organ meat, heart, lung, from what we gather. For an exceptional traditional rendang, check out Azlin Bloor's family recipe.
This is a no-recipe recipe. This is a slow-moving, all-day recipe but requires very little attention and it's both flexible and forgiving. You could strip it down to coconut milk, beef, and chiles and still come out with something great. We've done it. It's perfect over rice but makes a top-notch taco, too.
| Ingredients |
| Approximately 3# Happy Valley beef chuck, cut into 2" blocks or Happy Valley Cubed Beef |
| Cooking oil (coconut, grapeseed, ghee, olive oil, just about anything) |
| 2 cans of coconut milk + equal measure of water |
| Heavy pinch of sugar/honey/palm sugar |
| A lot of cilantro/mint/basil/parsley |
| Salt and pepper |
| For Spice Paste |
| A handful of shallots or 1 onion |
| A small handful of garlic cloves |
| Thumb-sized pieces of ginger |
| A handful of dried chiles or 3-4 fresh chiles or a heavy pinch of red pepper flakes/even chili powder |
| A couple of stalks of lemongrass |
| Cilantro- stems work great here. |
| Juice and zest from 2-3 limes |
Cooking Instructions
- Combine and chop all spice paste ingredients in a food processor, blender or by hand.
- Heat cooking oil in a big pot and brown the chuck on all sides.
- Remove the beef and cook the spice paste in the pan for a couple of minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk and water and scrape the bottom of the pot. Stir in sugar, salt and pepper.
- Return beef to pot and cook covered over low heat until tender - at least 2 hours. Remove lid and cook until sauce is nicely reduced.
- Stir in a big handful of the chopped soft herbs and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, sugar and more lime juice, if needed.