Beef Rendang (Padang Style)

About This Recipe

Rendang is the most famous dish of West Sumatra's Minangkabau people and was voted the world's most delicious food by CNN viewers in both 2011 and 2017. True rendang is not a curry but a slow caramelization — beef chunks cooked in coconut milk and a complex chili-galangal-lemongrass-turmeric paste for 3 to 4 hours, until the liquid evaporates, the coconut milk breaks into a rich oil, and the meat becomes deeply dark, almost black, with a glossy, sticky exterior. Each spoonful tastes of slow time, gentle heat, and pure beef essence. It keeps for weeks at room temperature — a feature, not a bug, since Minangkabau traders historically carried rendang on long journeys.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1.2 kgbeef chuck or shin, cut into 4 cm cubes
• 12dried red chilies, soaked and seeded (adjust for heat)
• 10shallots
• 8 clovesgarlic
• 1 thumbfresh ginger
• 1 thumbfresh galangal
• 1 thumbfresh turmeric (or 1 tsp ground)
• 3 stalkslemongrass (white parts), plus 1 bruised whole stalk
• 4candlenuts (or macadamias)
• 5kaffir lime leaves
• 2salam leaves (Indonesian bay) or regular bay leaves
• 1 stickcinnamon
• 3star anise
• 4cardamom pods
• 100 gunsweetened desiccated coconut
• 800 mlfull-fat coconut milk
• 200 mlcoconut cream
• 1 tbsptamarind paste
• 1 tbsppalm sugar
• salt to taste

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast the kerisik

   Dry-toast the desiccated coconut in a wide pan over medium-low, stirring constantly, for 6–8 minutes until deep golden brown. Cool, then grind to a slightly oily, fragrant paste — this is kerisik, the secret of Padang rendang.

2. 2

   Make the spice paste

   Blend chilies, shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, turmeric, lemongrass white parts, and candlenuts with a splash of water into a smooth, brick-red paste.

3. 3

   Fry the paste

   In a wide heavy pot or wok, heat 3 tbsp oil. Add the spice paste and stir-fry over medium for 15 minutes, until the paste is deep red, glossy, and the oil clearly separates.

4. 4

   Bloom the whole spices

   Add cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, lime leaves, salam leaves, and the bruised lemongrass stalk. Stir for 2 minutes.

5. 5

   Add beef and coconut milk

   Add the beef and stir to coat in the paste. Pour in the coconut milk, coconut cream, tamarind, palm sugar, and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a gentle simmer.

6. 6

   Simmer slowly, stage 1 (kalio)

   Cook uncovered over medium-low, stirring occasionally, for about 90 minutes. The mixture should be a thick golden-brown curry — at this point it is called kalio, a wet rendang.

7. 7

   Slow caramelize, stage 2 (rendang)

   Continue simmering and stirring more often, scraping the bottom, for another 90–120 minutes. The oil will rise dramatically; the mixture will turn from gold to brown to dark mahogany. Stir constantly toward the end so the bottom doesn't catch and burn.

8. 8

   Add kerisik and finish

   Stir in the toasted ground coconut and cook 10 more minutes, until the rendang is dark and dry, the oil clings to the meat, and the bottom of the pan glistens with concentrated curry. Taste; adjust salt and palm sugar.

9. 9

   Rest and serve

   Rest 30 minutes. Serve warm with steamed jasmine rice and gulai sayur or fresh sambal.

Variations

• •

  Rendang ayam: chicken rendang, faster (90 minutes total) and slightly less rich.

• •

  Rendang jengkol: with stinkbean — a regional Sumatran specialty.

• •

  Vegetarian rendang: jackfruit or tempeh, same paste, 90-minute total cook.

Storage

Famously keeps without refrigeration up to a week thanks to the spices and dry texture. Refrigerated keeps 10 days; freezes 3 months. Rendang on day 3 is better than day 1.

Frequently Asked Questions