Beef Rendang

This Beef Rendang Recipe is an Indonesian classic and is "out-of-this-world-tasty". It is easy to prep but takes patience and practice to perfect the traditional cooking method. 

With Boom's Bali Rendang Kit Skip ahead to "Prep for curry". Go to Boom's Shop to pick up this kit.   The kit contains the whole spices, spice mix and coconut (not the meat, veg or coconut tin).

Without Boom's Bali Rendang Kit If you don't have our kit you will need to prepare the following: Whole spices Big handful of kaffir lime leaves Two thumb lengths of cinnamon stick or cassia bark 3 green cardamom 4 cloves  Rendang Spice Mix - 4tsps. Ours contains a blend of: Ground coriander Cumin Chilli Fennel Turmeric Lemongrass Garlic Nutmeg Aniseed Galangal 35g of desiccated coconut

Prep for curry

Tip beef cuts for Rendang: 

You want to use cuts with plenty of connective tissue that will soften with the low and slow cooking. Here is a complete guide to cooking curries with beef. Cuts to experiment with:

• Shank - hind leg, front leg (shin)
• Neck 
• Chuck - shoulder area - often sold as braising steak 
• Plate - short ribs
• Skirt - is a leaner cut you can try if you are looking for a quicker cook time

• heavy-based pot with a lid
• 800 grams of diced beef
• peel and crush 2 garlic cloves
• thumb of ginger grated
• 1 large onion chopped as finely as possible
• 400g tin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar  
• Something to serve it with (rice/naan/chapati)

Method

1. Add 2 tbsp veg oil to your pan (that has a lid) and turn hob up to a medium heat.

Tip oil temperature: 

Throw in your cinnamon stick or cassia bark a little early - when you start to see tiny bubbles forming around the edge you know your oil is up to temperature and ready for the other whole spices.

2. Add Boom Whole Spices and fry for 30 seconds  

3. Add the onion and fry for a few mins until soft

Tip frying off: 

Make a little well in your onions for next step so that your ginger, garlic and spice mix reach the heat of your pan. The aim is to fry but not burn.

You only extract flavours from spices when they are heated in fat/oil. You should be able to smell the aromas (sometimes a bit of wafting is needed). Once you can smell the aromas you're good to carry on.  

If your spices are sticking to the pan a splash of water helps. 

4. Add garlic and ginger and fry for a minute

5. Add the Boom Spice Mix and a splash of water and fry for 30 seconds  

6. Add the beef and fry until sealed

7. Add the tin of coconut milk

8. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp sugar

9. Turn down the heat as low as possible and cook for half an hour with the lid on - don't get over excited - there's still a long way to go👇 

10. Remove the lid and cook for a further two hours until the sauce is almost gone 

Tip for an authentic Rendang:

A Rendang starts its life looking like a beef curry but only becomes a Rendang when all the sauce has evaporated. The final stage is to fry what remains of the sauce so that it caramelises and sticks to the meat. 

No one's going to judge you if you want to eat it sooner (while there is still sauce) - we just want to make sure you know the authentic method.

TV chef Marc Matsumoto recalls the Rendang advice Judy Wong (as seen in Anthony Bourdain’s Singapore episode):

1) Rendang is not Rendang if it has a sauce 

2) Rendang always tastes better the next day

Image credit: No Recipes  

11. Add the Boom Coconut to a small dry pan on a low heat and slowly toast it whilst constantly stirring until golden brown. Be careful not to burn it - if you get distracted by anything else during this procedure you will burn it

From this:

To this:

12 Add the toasted coconut to the main dish and stir through 

13. Turn off the heat and serve with rice and flatbreads. Boom 💥

All recipes   

Nutrition and allergy advice for Poppie's Gang Beef Rendang Curry Kit

All natural, gluten free, vegan friendly, zero sugar & salt (added to taste by the curry curator). MSG free, preservative free and no artificial colouring. 

Ingredients

Boom Spice Mix:

Ground coriander,  Cumin, Chilli powder, Fennel, Turmeric, Lemongrass, Garlic, Nutmeg, Aniseed, Galangal

Boom Whole Spices:

Cinnamon, clove, kaffir lime leaves

Boom Coconut - SO2 free

Allergens

Made in an environment that contains nuts. Contains Mustard