Rendang of Sumatra Traditional Way

Beef Rendang  is an essential dish of the island of Sumatra and especially in its western province. This dish is made of pieces of beef marinated in various spices and which have simmered about 2 hours before being served. Like many dishes in sauce, it is accompanied with white rice or ketupat , a pressed rice cake, or lemang , glutinous rice, and savored especially during the festivities!

Prepare ingredients and Rendang spices

Cut the piece of beef into cubes. Chop the stems of lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. Peel the shallots and garlic.

Prepare rendang ingredients

Heat a dry frying pan on high and put the fennel, cumin and coriander seeds on the grill for 1 or 2 minutes until fragrant. Then reduce these 3 powdered spices to the mixer or pestle for the bravest! Remove the pips from the peppers.

Put the lemongrass, galangal, ginger, shallots, turmeric, kaffir lime, garlic and chillies in the bowl of your blender and mix to obtain a spicy paste.

Pour a large drizzle of olive oil in a pan. Heat the cinnamon sticks, star anise and cardamom for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Then add the spice paste and mix well together. Let it come back about 15 to 20 min until the oil begins to separate from the spices.

Then sprinkle the mixture of grilled and ground spices (fennel, coriander and cumin) and mix with the dough. Let fry for 5 minutes without grilling either. This characteristic Rendang spice blend is called pemasak.

slow cooker pemasak

Cooking the beef

Remove the dough and put the beef to fry with a drizzle of olive oil for 2 min.

fry the beef cutted into cubes

Then pour the coconut milk, put the dough, mix, and when it starts to boil turn on very soft fire.

pour the coconut milk

Simmer very slowly for about 3 hours, it is necessary that the meat is well cooked and that the sauce is enormously reduced, the Rendang must be quite dry. Then add the tamarind, the keresik if you have and simmer again for another 20 min. It’s ready !