my fave rendang recipe

here's my favourite rendang recipe.. it's such a lovely dish, a labour of love's product :D the meat will be so tender, some still intact in pieces, some will shred from repeatedly stirring in the pot. my mom made rendang with pressure cooker, sometimes she add small red beans, and tiny potatoes. some people prefer the rendang has thick oily sauce, some prefer dry rendang. i love rendang with a bit of sauce, but hubby loves dry rendang, there's no compromise here.. today i cook rendang and nasi uduk (rice cooked in coconut milk+bay leaves+chopped galangal+bruised lemongrass+salt). no veggies to cooked today but i promise i'll put steamed carrots and broccoli on our plates :D

preparation and cooking time 3-4 hours

ingredients :

2 kg lean beef, cut 3X3X2cm

3 stalks of lemongrass stics, washed, bruised with mortar

2 pcs turmeric leaves (if you can’t find this, omit it from the recipe)

5 pcs lime leaves

4 pcs bay leaves

1 tsp tamarind paste, dilute with 2 tbsp water

500 ml mixture of 100ml thick coconut milk+400ml water (or beefstock)

500 ml mixture of 400ml thick coconut milk+100ml water (of beefstock)

3 tsb grated palm sugar

salt to taste (saltiness of each brand is vary, sometimes i put 3 tsp)

100g desiccated coconut toasted in a wok until golden brown (optional)

grind :

20 red chillies

fresh ginger as big as your thumb

fresh/frozen galangal as big as your thumb

15 shallots/brown onion

6 large garlic cloves

5 candle nuts

1 tsp pepper

method:

- in a pot, heat a little bit of oil (3-4 tbsp of vegetable oil or olive oil) saute the ground ingredients, lemongrass, turmeric leaves, bay leaves and lime leaves until fragrant. pour 500ml mixture of coconut milk, add tamarind and salt, set on low to medium heat, bring to boil for a couple of minutes and the milk thickens and becomes oily.

- add beef, desiccated coconut and palm sugar, cook until the meat becomes tender. stir occasionally in low/medium heat, beware of the bubbly sauce. add the thick coconut milk and salt that suit your taste, cook in low heat and stir occasionally until the sauce reduced and the color turns brown.

note :

- it's best if you use high pot (because in this cooking proccess, the boiling coconut milk tends to bubbles and splatered everywhere and messed the stove, you or whoever the stirrer and sometimes the kitchen floor) and preferably pot with thick base so the meat wont get burnt easily just in case you forgot to stir.

- my friend makes rendang with slow cooker, she said it turns OK without the fuss of stiring occasionaly, now i got the urge to buy a slow cooker too!!!