Beef Rendang (Indonesian Beef stew cooked with coconut milk and spices)
Do you know what is the most delicious food in the world in 2021? CNN, an American broadcast station has been announced that Beef Rendang from Indonesia is the best dish in 2021. And as Indonesian myself I could tell this famous Beef Rendang is so delicious. I believe everybody who ever tasted this dish agree with my statement.
But, why is it so delicious you might ask?
Beef Rendang is originally from West Sumatra and basicly is a stew that slow cooked with coconut milk and a lot of herbs for long times. It takes time to cook Beef Rendang, and as the coconut milk evaporated and absorbed to the beef which make it so tender and has so much flavours. Rendang usually served for big occasion such Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha but if you travel to Indonesia it is so easy to find Rendang in any “Padang restaurant”.
Well how about you make it by yourself in your kitchen? It is easy to make, but just need a little extra patient. When I was in Netherlands as an aupair, my host family requested me to cooked this delicious Beef Rendang and funny story, when I cooked this Rendang, our neighbour literally came and asked “what are you cooking? it smells so delicious?” 😀 Based on that, I knew why CNN announced rendang as one of the best dish in the world.
So… without being sad, let’s jump to it and make this delicious Beef Rendang.
Beef Rendang
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 500 gr Beef
- 500 ml Thick coconut milk
- 1.5 ltr Water
- 7 cloves Garlic
- 1 Red onion medium
- 1 Red big chili
- 3 cm Ginger
- 2 stalk Lemongrass crushed
- 2 Bay leaves
- 2 Lime kafir leaves
- 1 tsp Nutmeg powder
- 1 tsp Cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp Coriander powder
- 1 tsp Cumin powder
- 2 Starnish crush it
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- First you need to cut your beef into a chunk. It supposed to be a medium size because the thicker, the longer it will takes to cooked perfectly.
- After your protein is ready, chop garlic, onion, ginger and red chili into a paste. Set a side.
- Heat you pan and pour a vegetable oil. Once it is hot enough, saute you onion paste until become brown and aromatic. Add your crushed lemongrass, bay leaves, lime leaves, spices powder (Cinnamon, coriander, cumin, nutmeg) and starnish. Saute more for 10 minutes and make sure you stir it well so it is not burn.
- You will find your kitchen smell like Indonesian Padang Restaurant right now and in this moment you need to put your beef together with coconut milk and water. Do not forget to seasoning with sugar, salt and pepper then mix it thoroughly. Low the heat and slow cook the beef. Mix it every 15 minutes so it is not stick to the pan. All the liquid will evaporated during the cooking which make the beef turns dark brown and the texture become so tender. If the dish is no longer watery, it meants it is already done.
- Serve it warm with some cook rice. Enjoy 🙂
Notes
- You could use any type of beef you like but in my opinion the chuck is the best
- Do not use so much oil in the beggining to saute the onion since during the cooking process, the beef itself and the coconut milk will release extra fat.