The KING OF ALL CURRIES is here!!! Beef Rendang has incredible depth of flavour, with complexity and many layers of spices. It’s straight forward to make, though it does take time and perhaps a trip to the Asian grocery store (though Sydney-siders will find everything at Woolies). Watch the video and drool!
Beef Rendang
This Beef Rendang recipe is from a payroll lady at a company I used to work for. It’s her Malaysian mother’s recipe. I still remember, so many years later, how we used to bond over food at the water cooler!
I actually first published this recipe a couple of years ago but I’ve made some minor improvements that will make your life easier without changing the flavour at all. Plus I made a recipe video!
Beef Rendang is the king of all curries!
What is Beef Rendang?
Beef Rendang is a Malaysian curry and is considered by many to be the king of all curries! To say it’s extravagantly delicious is an understatement. There are very few curries in this world with such amazingly complex flavours.
Originally from Indonesia though now more well known as a Malaysia curry, the sauce is made with aromatic spices like cinnamon, cardamom and star anise as well as fresh aromatics including lemongrass, garlic, ginger and galangal.
Unlike many curries, Beef Rendang is a dry curry which means there is not loads of sauce. However, the meat is so ridiculously tender and has a thick coating of sauce on each piece, so when the meat literally falls apart at a touch, it mixes through rice, flavouring it like saucy curries.
If you love South East Asian curries, Beef Rendang is without a doubt one of the best!
Here in Sydney, you can get all the ingredients for Beef Rendang at Woolworths and Coles. Seriously!
How to make Beef Rendang
Though there’s a fair few ingredients in this, some of which may not be familiar to you and are certainly not everyday ingredients even in my world, it’s actually quite a straightforward recipe:
Blitz curry paste ingredient in food processor;
Brown the beef;
Cook off the curry paste – releases amazing flavour!
Add everything else in and slow cook until the beef is ultra tender.
An interesting cooking method with Beef Rendang is the way it gets the deep brown colour. All throughout the video, right up until the very end, you will notice that the sauce is a pale brown colour. It’s not until the very end when the sauce reduces right down and the oil separates that it turns brown, essentially the browning of the beef in the oil of the sauce.
This Beef Rendang can be made in a slow cooker, but I find it easiest to make it all on the stove. Especially given it starts on the stove with the browning of the beef and spice paste, then finishes on the stove with the reducing of the sauce and browning of the beef (this part cannot be done in a slow cooker).
This is one of those recipes that just gets better with time. So whenever possible, I try to make this a day or two in advance. It also freezes extremely well.
I serve this with my Restaurant Style Coconut Rice because it’s my copycat of the coconut rice you get at the posh modern Asian restaurants! – Nagi xx
PS You see those bits stuck on the beef that could be shredded coconut?? It’s not. It’s bits of shredded BEEF. Because it’s so tender by the end, when you’re stirring it, some bits do flake off. YUM!
MORE GREAT CURRIES OF THE WORLD!
- Biryani (it’s amazing!)
- Chicken Tikka Masala
- Dal (Indian lentil curry)
- Thai Red Curry
- Massaman Curry
- Browse the Curry Collection
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Beef Rendang recipe video!
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Beef Rendang
Ingredients
Spice Paste
- 12 dried chilies, rehydrated in boiling water, or 12 large fresh (Note 1a)
- 1 small onion, finely chopped (Note 1b)
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 lemongrass stalks, white part only, sliced (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh galangal, finely chopped (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 2 tbsp oil (vegetable, canola or peanut oil)
Curry
- 2 lb/ 1 kg chuck steak, or other slow cooking beef, cut into 4cm / 1.6″ cubes (Note 4)
- 1 tbsp oil (vegetable, peanut, canola)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/4 tsp clove powder
- 3 star anise
- 1/2 tsp cardamon powder
- 1 lemongrass stick, bottom half of the stick only and smashed (Note 5)
- 400ml / 14 oz coconut milk (1 standard can)
- 2 tsp tamarind puree / paste, or tamarind pulp soaked in 1 tbsp of hot water, seeds removed (Note 6)
- 4 large kaffir lime leaves (or 6 small) , very finely sliced (Note 7)
- 1/3 cup desiccated coconut (finely shredded coconut)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar or grated palm sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Place Spice Paste ingredients in a small food processor and whizz until fine. NOTE: If using dried chilli and you know your food processor is not that powerful, chop the chilli first.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large heavy based pot over high heat. Add half the beef and brown, then remove onto plate. Repeat with remaining beef.
- Lower heat to medium low. Add Spice Paste and cook for 2 – 3 minutes until the wetness has reduced and the spice paste darkens (don’t breathe in too much, the chilli will make you cough!).
- Add remaining Curry ingredients and beef. Stir to combine.
- Bring to simmer, then immediately turn down the heat to low or medium low so the sauce is bubbling very gently.
- Put the lid on the pot and leave it to simmer for 1 hr 15 minutes.
- Remove lid and check the beef to see how tender it is. You don’t want it to be “fall apart at a touch” at this stage, but it should be quite tender. If it is fall apart already, remove the beef from the pot before proceeding.
- Turn up heat to medium and reduce sauce for 30 – 40 minutes, stirring every now and then at first, then frequently towards the end until the beef browns and the sauce reduces to a paste that coats the beef. (Note 9)
- The beef should now be very tender, fall apart at a touch. If not, add a splash of water and keep cooking. Remove from heat and serve with plain or Restaurant Style Coconut Rice.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Dozer’s got a boo boo. i.e. Shredded his paw by tearing manically across a bed of oyster shells in pursuit of a pelican.
Let’s not feel too sorry for him though. He’s been pretty pampered.
Hello Nagi,
Just bumped into your site. What type of dry red chillies did you use? Where can I buy these in Sydney?
Really love to make your recipe this weekend.
Hi Veena! I am not sure what type they are, they are just called “dried chillies” and they are red. You can get them from Asian grocery stores for around $2. Here is an example – but the photo is not very good: http://www.myasiangrocer.com.au/o-cha-dried-chilli-l-100g/
Worst case – get the crushed dried red chili from Coles/Woolworths and use around 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp (adjust to your taste 🙂 ).
Oh – I think Harris Farms also sells the whole dried chilli!
Very Helpful
Glad you find this helpful! 🙂
Superb! Everyone loved the flavours and aromas in this Rendang. It wasn’t too spicy for the kids, but it still had a great depth of flavour.
Oooh! I’m SO GLAD you liked this Jon!! Personally favorite 🙂 Thank you so much for trying it and coming back to let me know you enjoyed it! And I love that the kids didn’t find it too spicy! 🙂
Hi Nagi!
I am going to make this dish for a family party this weekend, is it possible to double the recipe so it will serve 12 instead of 6?
Am I able to simply double everything, or should certain ingredients be less?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Jon! Yup, that’s right, just double all the ingredients. It might take a wee bit longer to get the beef fall apart tender and reduce the sauce right down, maybe an extra 20 minutes or so? Definitely not double the time. 🙂 Hope you love it!!
Hi Nagi! I just made tonight and mine looked just like yours! How do you say, ‘AWESOME’ in Thai? Because this recipe is packed FULL of flavors. I agree that it takes a bit of time,it is not hard, but Nagi I do not think a beginning cook should tackle..? Oh what the heck, why not! Just make sure you are not rushed and you follow Nagi’s directions perfectly. I am the type of cook, similar to a carpenter- I READ THRICE and cut ONCE! I read the recipe quite a few times to get a feel and I cut, measure, open all ingredients before I start, and I would advise you to do the same with this recipe. The last part where you are reducing curry sauce, has to be watched closely. You may think ‘this is NEVER going to reduce’, but it does, and makes the most beautiful, thick sauced beef- EVER! THANK YOU for hanging out at the water cooler for this EXQUISITE recipe. EVERYONE loved! I served with rice, cauliflower rice 😉 and I made the cuc salad you recommended. I will definitely make again- it is a keeper.
Thank you so much for your wonderful message Lisa! And the photo you sent me – it looks EXACTLY like mine does! You truly did follow the recipe perfectly, your meat was fall apart, the sauce was the perfect colour and thickness. I agree it is not a beginner’s recipe, though easy, there are alot of steps and it does take time. I should update the recipe to reflect that. And the cauliflower rice is a great accompaniment!! Good balance with the rich curry. Thank you again for sharing! 🙂
Hello Nagi, I’ve printed off this superb recipe of yours to try tomorrow night. As a curry lover, I have all of the ingredients but can I ask you about the galangal? Thanks! 🙂
I recently bought some galangal on the internet which came from Malaysia, in dried hard form in a packet. Someone told me I should soak it for several hours before using. Are you able to help me there at all? Otherwise, no problems I’ll just substitute it with ginger as you suggest above. Thank you 😀
Hi Neil! I just asked my “curry” expert friend about this and she said dried will work fine! Just soak it in a bit of warm water to reconstitute. It will be soft and pliable. For good measure, I would toss the soaking liquid into the pot (why waste free flavour?!). Then finely chop as per the instructions. I am so impressed that you ordered galangal from Malaysia! You can also get galangal powder and use that with ginger – that is another alternative in case you run out of galangal. 🙂
Oh, Nagi, I’ve been wanting to have a go at this for ages but was always put off because it seemed a little involved. But now as a fellow ‘simple recipe lover’ you’ve given me the confidence to give this a go some time! Pinning!
Thanks Helen!! It really is a simple recipe, you know I don’t do fussy!! I’m one of those people that trawl through Gourmet food magazines and pick out the do-able recipes that use normal ingredients!!
This spicy concoction is the kind of meal we make all the time. I once bought galangal and never got to use it (sigh). Yes, truly love this flavor combination. Now I definitely know what to make with it .
Hey Imma, this is DEFINATELY the kind of dish that you will love!! Though the flavour is obviously very different to African dishes, there are parallels with the strong, intense, complex flavours. You’ll love it!
This is one of those dishes I’ve heard about, have always wanted to try, but sadly never have! I think that may have to change with reading this recipe! I love all of the ingredients in this dish – refreshing tastes of lemongrass and kaffir with warm spices of cinnamon and cloves – it sounds incredible! Thanks for sharing this recipe and inspiring me to finally try this dish!
Thanks Kathleen! This is definitely the type of recipe you will love 🙂 Right up your alley!!
Love dry rendang. Yours looks so delish!
Thanks Helen!! I love dry curries too, they’re the best!
Yes, please! This looks amazing. I can imagine the beef just falling apart at first touch. So tender and delicious!
Thank you Annie! I’m so glad you think it looks good. I love this so much!!
This looks so good, I can just imagine the steam coming out the top! Slow cooked meat is always so tender and yummy!
Thanks Sarah! This is one of my favourite dishes ever so I’m glad you think it looks good!
I just love this dish on the pictures and can’t wait to try it! Great flavors and not too difficult to make if you have some time! Pinned and will try it along with the coconut rice 🙂
Thanks Mira! It’s so true, it really is easy to make, it just takes time because of it’s a slow cooked dish. I think you will really like it, knowing the flavours of the recipes you share! 🙂
Hallo Nagi, my mom always made this for me…:-) I love beef rendang so much, by the way it’s originated from Indonesia, now commonly served in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Philippines. 🙂
Oh yes, it did originate in Indonesia!! That’s not very well known, I knew you would point that out! Have you got a recipe on your site?? 🙂
Pure torture looking at this! Loving the flavors and can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Matt!! The flavours are an absolutely killer. Even though it’s only 7am here, I am literally drooling at the thought!!
I look at that dish and can almost taste it. That’s a sign of a great photograph. Now I want this for dinner tomorrow. 🙂
Thanks Maureen!! I want it for dinner tomorrow too 🙂
Looks ace!
Glad you approve!