Of Beef Rendang

Saturday means I'll cook if i feel like it.

And this week, I did cook because Dude from Work requested for beef rendang.

I have never cooked rendang before. I've cooked various types of fried rice, experimented with anchovies sambal (and never quite got it right), and nasi lemak, but rendang never really crossed my mind.

Cooking rendang, particularly beef, required lengthy preparation time. You need to boil the beef for about two hours prior, to make sure they're tender. You will know a beef rendang was cooked by an amateur; you'll need a new set of teeth because the beef are as hard as stone.

And then there's also the blending of onions, garlics, lemongrass, ginger, tumeric, and dried chillies to make a paste! That alone will take you about thirty minutes.

And then there's the simmering. If you want it dry, you have to simmer the rendang for an hour or so.

Cooking rendang is hard work, but when you served it and your guests compliments you, it's really worth the effort and you KNOW you deserve a cooking show in Asian Food Channel and be the next Nigella Lawson.

For a heaty Beef Rendang meal, this is my recipe:

This Single's Stories Beef Rendang Recipe (Serves 4-6)
Estimated prep. time: Three hours
Note: Goes well with white rice or bread!


[To Blend]
3 Red Onions
Plenty of Garlic
5 stalks of lemongrass
Half a ginger
Half a turmeric
10 to 20 pieces of dried chillies (soak the dry chillies in hot water for 10 minutes before blending)

One teaspoon of salt
One tablespoon of brown sugar
Two chicken stock cubes
8 tablespoons of Kurma or Curry powder
5 pieces of kaffir leaves
three pieces of turmeric leaves
One packet of Santan
One cup of assam jawa juice
One kilogram of local beef (choose local beef because local beef tends tenderized faster)

Instructions:
1. Boil the beef for one and a half to two hours.
2. Fry the blended paste for a few minutes.
3. Add in kurma or curry powder. Stir the powder into the paste evenly.
4. Add in santan. Stir evenly.
5. Add three cups of water (or you can use the stock from the beef).
6. Add in salt, brown sugar, chicken stock cubes, and assam jawa juice.
7. When the beef cutlets are ready, add the beef cutlets.
8. Add kaffir leaves and turmeric leaves.
9. Stir evenly and simmer until dry.