Authentic Indonesian Beef Rendang
Beef rendang is a delicious Indonesian dry beef curry slow-cooked in spicy coconut milk until all the liquid evaporates, leaving the meat soft and tender.
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You might encounter this dish in neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. Like any food worldwide, rendang has many versions, depending on the place that adopted it. Therefore, you might come across Malaysian rendang or Singaporean rendang. But all are rooted in Padangnese (West Sumatran) rendang.
The dish has become so popular all over Indonesia that beef rendang is now one of Indonesia’s acknowledged national foods. The others are Gado-Gado, Nasi Goreng, Sate Ayam/ Sate Kambing, and Soto.
If you go to Indonesia, you can always find an eating place serving this dish on their menu in any region/ province. So you’ll see why beef rendang is a national Indonesian dish.
Traditionally, the West Sumatran cook this flavorsome dried rendang as a signature dish for the festive seasons, such as Eid al Adha and Eid al Fitr. Or for celebratory occasions such as weddings and community events. But nowadays, people make the dish whenever they like as a part of the home food menu.
Types of Rendang
There are two types of rendang: one with gravy, also known as Kalio, and the other with a dry curry without gravy. This difference is achieved according to the length of cooking time.
The longer the cooking process, the thicker and drier the gravy becomes as it evaporates and the richer and more intense the flavor. The one with the gravy has a consistency like ordinary curry.
The one without gravy will turn dark brown, almost black. Therefore, it is called rendang hitam, which means black rendang. And this one is the real deal of beef rendang.
Furthermore, the dish varies according to the type of meat you use. Though the most common one is made with beef, there are also chicken and goat rendang.
The Type of Beef to Use
Contrary to what some recipes suggest, beef rendang requires good-quality, fat-free beef meat. Chunks of beef chuck, topside, shin, or brisket are popular options for the dish.
Because of its long, slow-cooking process, even the hard beef shin will become meltingly tender.
Ingredients for Authentic Indonesian Rendang
In short, you only need four things to make this delicious dry curry: beef, spices, herbs, and coconut milk.
As for the spices, you need ground cumin, coriander, red chilies, and galangal for the spices.
Note that people in Indonesia use fresh red chilies and galangal roots.
But to simplify and make things more practical, I use dried red chili powder (Kashmiri red chili powder is my favorite because of its color and flavor).
You can also use dried galangal root or galangal paste in a jar. They are good alternatives.
Now, for herbs, you will need ginger, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and turmeric leaf. It may be tricky and challenging to get the latter because turmeric leaf is not available at regular Asian shops or at Chinatown.
So you may have to look and order online. But if you find it impossible to get it, I would say that you still can make mouthwatering beef rendang without it. So don’t worry about it.
Last but not least, you need coconut milk to make rendang. It is the number one ingredient that gives the meat a rich flavor. Make sure you choose good quality tinned coconut milk. And even better if you make it yourself.
How to Make the Best Beef Rendang
There are two ways of cooking rendang, one with spice paste and the other without.
The video and images I share in this post refer to the latter. It is a simplified method, but this recipe yields a good rendang with the taste of authentic rendang.
For this one, you will chop the onion, mince the ginger, finely chop the galangal, and use Kashmiri red chili powder (or any Asian red chili powder).
Place the beef, chopped onion, minced ginger, galangal, ground cumin, ground coriander, chili powder, salt, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and turmeric leaf (if using) in a cooking pot. Stir it as you cook over medium heat. Then, put the lid on and let it cook until the beef pieces are cooked through.
Next, add the coconut milk, bring it to a boil, and let it simmer. Keep an eye on it and keep stirring now and again to prevent the bottom of the pot from burning.
If you want, you can turn the heat to high to reduce the sauce quickly. When you see the gravy has evaporated halfway, reduce the heat and cook until you get soft and tender beef with little to no gravy.
The gravy takes approximately an hour to dry up. In between, I turn the heat up and down to quicken the cooking process.
The other method, which is the traditional way to cook the rendang, is by grinding all the spices until they form a smooth paste.
You can use a pestle and mortar, as in the olden days. Or, if you’re like me and want to cook fast, you can use a food chopper or food processor.
Once you get a smooth curry paste, place the beef pieces and the other ingredients, including the spice paste, in the cooking pot and cook until the coconut milk reaches a boiling point. Then follow the rest as above.
If you want proper black rendang, let the beef slow cook at low heat with the lid on until the gravy evaporates and turns caramelized. Just don’t forget to keep turning and stirring, especially when the liquid starts to dry up.
Tips to Make Authentic Rendang Padang
- Choose the best beef you can afford and cut the meat to an equal size. I usually cut in about 1.5 – 2 inches cubes. Ensure you don’t cut the beef too small, as those pieces will shrink even more due to cooking time.
- If you use tinned coconut milk, choose the best possible because not all canned coconut milk is equal. Some brands put less than 50% of the milk in the tin, and some add thickening agents that make the dish taste weird. I won’t be able to recommend the same thing to all of you, as you may live in different parts of the globe.
- To be more authentic, you can make your coconut milk by mixing some water with grated coconut. Mix and squeeze the coconut until you see the milk coming out. Then, squeeze and sieve the coconut over a mixing bowl. Add water gradually to ensure you get thick milk out of it.
- As mentioned above, it is not easy to get turmeric leaves. If you’re one of them, you can omit it altogether. Ensure you have the rest of the ingredients, especially the spice paste.
Ways to Enjoy the Dry Beef Curry
Traditional rendang is best enjoyed with hard-boiled rice called lontong as a part of the celebration menu, such as Eid or weddings. You can check my post on how to make lontong. However, people eat beef rendang with hot plain white rice as their home menu.
Usually, Padangnese (West Sumatran) would have the dish with similarly spicy dishes such as Balado kentang (potato cooked in spicy chili paste), sayur nangka (spicy jackfruit curry), and sambal ijo (green chilies cooked with onions and green tomatoes).
How to Store the Leftover Beef Rendang
In the olden days, beef rendang was made to preserve the meat because there was no refrigerator then. Rendang tastes even better when you leave it longer than overnight. I think the flavor of the dish develops better over time.
So, if you made a rendang in bulk, you can store it in a tight-lid container in the fridge for about 3-4 weeks. You can also freeze it and keep it for up to 2 months.
The best way is to put the meat in a food container or vacuum-sealed food bag according to portions. When you need it, you can take the amount you like.
What to Serve Beef Rendang With
Below are some Indonesian recipes that will go well with beef rendang in your food spread.
Thank you for checking out my beef rendang recipe. I hope you like it and will want to try it. Please let me know what you think about it in the comments below. I would really appreciate it.
Lastly, please follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Pinterest to see what’s cooking in my kitchen.
Thank you and all the best.
Indonesian Beef Rendang
Beef rendang is Indonesian beef curry cooked in spiced coconut milk until all the liquid evaporates leaving the meat tastes rich and delicious.
Servings: 10
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Cooking pan or
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Wok.
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Wooden spoon
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Food processor or
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Food chopper
Keep your screen on
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Using a pestle and mortar, pound and grind the onions, galangal, ginger, and fresh chilies (if using) into a paste. You can also use a food processor to make this paste. Just put the onion, galangal, ginger, and chilies in the food processor. Then give it a blitz until all the become a thick paste.
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Put the meat in a big wok, add in the spices and herbs paste, the cumin, coriander, lemongrass, turmeric leaf, kaffir lime leaves, and salt.
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Stir until all the meat pieces are covered with spices. Put the lid on and cook at medium heat. Keep checking and stirring every now and again.
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After about 20-30 minutes when the meat looks cooked, add in the coconut milk. Stir and cook further with the lid on at medium-high heat until the milk reaches boiling point, then turn the heat to low. If the coconut milk overflows your cooking pan, you can take the lid off or leave it slightly ajar. Don’t forget to always keep checking and stirring. And be careful with the boiling gravy that can be scattered around.
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Rendang should be ready within a few hours. But at this point, the rendang will have quite a bit of gravy. You can enjoy it if you want to.
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If you like to have a proper Rendang Hitam (black rendang), you have to cook longer for at least another hour. Until all the liquid evaporates completely and the color of your rendang becomes very dark brown. You can quicken the process by cooking at medium-high heat so the gravy evaporates quickly. But, take care not to let it stick to the wok, or worse, to burn. Keep checking and stirring.
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When all the sauce is gone, and the rendang turns dark brown, you can switch the heat off. Your black rendang/ rendang hitam is ready.
- If you use beef, you can either choose topside, shin, or brisket. Cut the meat into 2 inches cubes, and pierce each piece with skewers or a fork a few times. I promise this little thing will make your rendang tastier.
- You can use fresh red chilies, but make sure they’re grounded into a fine paste together with other herbs and spices. But really, I’ve tried using both fresh and dried chilies with the same result, which is yummy rendang. So, don’t fret if you can’t get fresh ones. Don’t worry, you can just use chili powder.
- When it comes to chilies, you can always improvise according to your taste. Although the original rendang is quite hot due to a large number of chilies, in this recipe I only put a “moderate” amount of chilies. So, I suggest you put this moderate amount of chili at the beginning, then put some more after you tasted your rendang halfway through your cooking.
- If you use fresh lemongrass, cut it into one-inch length pieces so that we can get the most of its flavor. If you use lemongrass paste, you can put just a little less than one teaspoon of it. But please please don’t use lemongrass powder. They’re useless.
- As for Turmeric leaf, I did put it as optional, but I strongly suggest you try your best to get it. If you can only get the powder form, put 1 teaspoon of it. But do not fret if this leaf is not available to you. You will still make a good rendang.
Serving: 8portions | Calories: 329kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 286mg | Potassium: 434mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 25IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 4mg
Nutritional info in this recipe is only estimate using online calculator. You should refer to it as a guide only. Please verify with your own data if you seek an accurate info.
What is beef rendang?
Beef rendang is an Indonesian dry curry made with good-quality beef meat and cooked in spicy, aromatic coconut milk. It has spicy chili heat and a hint of sweetness from the caramelized coconut milk.
Is beef rendang spicy?
Yes, it can be spicy. However, you can always use fewer chilies to reduce the spiciness. The traditional rendang will look very dark, almost black, and have a bit of fiery chili heat.
Where is beef rendang from?
It is originally from West Sumatra, Indonesia.
How to thicken beef rendang?
You have to cook it longer. The longer you cook it, the thicker and drier the gravy becomes as it evaporates.
Can beef rendang be frozen?
Yes, you can also freeze beef rendang and keep it for two months. The best way is to put the meat in a food container or vacuum the food bag according to portions. When you need it, you can just take the amount you like.
