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.
I love you to pieces, Nagi, but you have just alienated an entire country. Rendang originates in Minangkabau in Sumatra, Indonesia, therefore it is not a ‘Malaysian’ dish but an Indonesian dish. It would be like saying vegemite is British as it is similar to marmite. 😉
Agreed, it should definitely say ‘Rendang’ is an Indonesian curry popular in Malaysia, rather than ‘a Malaysian curry originating in Indonesia.’ My mum is Indonesian and we grew up eating rendang so will definitely try this recipe to compare!
Perfect plus with restaurant rice and some Asian stir fried veges with a splash of honey & soy. First time cooking it and was a bit stressed with 40 to go as meat not tended and too much sauce but in the end plus another 15 mins, best I have ever had.
Hi,
I’m hoping to make this and I’m struggling to believe 1kg will make six portions simply because my husband loves rendang and eats a lot. I understand serving size is completely different in my husband’s universe lol. How large of a portion is the serving size? 4 or 5 pieces of beef? 😅
If I make this ahead what is the best method to reheat to serve?
Absolutely, delicious! Now that we have tried this one, we are struggling to find ones at restaurants that compete.
Nice recipe there, but I would point out that Rendang is Indonesian dish (from Minangkabau area). In Malaysia they make the dish a little bit saucy then the original version which is really dry.
I had never heard of Beef Rendang until it came out on “Curry Quest”, an episode on Bluey! Immediately I knew I had to make it. It is AMAZING. Warm, spicy and rich. The entire house smells amazing too. I’ll definitely be sharing this and making again!
Absolutely love this recipe! I do half chuck half short rib for the extra richness from the marrow
So easy, and so delicious 😋. The hardest part for me was sourcing galangal. So, I made a double batch of paste for laters, and I will ask my friends to grab me some when they are in the city. So, so good.
Hi Iggy. I’m Malay and make rendang often. I substitute fresh galangal with galangal powder here in the cooler parts of Australia, where galangal is hard to find. If you live in NT or Qld, it’s super easy to grow in your garden. Cheers!
Trust the process with this one’s I kept second guessing myself, was I using too much garlic, not the right part of the lemongrass. Don’t overthink it. This recipe works and the end result is beautiful, beef rendang like in Bali or Malaysia.. thank you for making an easy to follow recipe that is delicious.
My husband makes this, and says your recipe is better than the one he used to use!
We had it yesterday, absolutely lush! One of my favourite things to eat.
Simply amazing. Restaurant quality and a firm new favourite!! Thankyou!
Delicious! But I would classify this as an Indonesian recipe since it originated in Indonesia and is still widely popular there.
Husband swooned! I like the praise. A bit of a fun adventure collecting all of the ingredients. I will make this again and again. Thanks for the excellent and clear recipe!
Never thought the day would come where I would make rendang from scratch. And such a delicious rending too! Thanks for sharing these delicious recipes with us, Nagi.
Oh my gosh! I never normally leave replies but have to share how amazing this recipe is. I have made ‘a’ Rendang a few times in the past but this one is out of this world! I’ve cooked it four times in the last month. I make twice the amount and give it to my friends as I have to share the joy. I dream about making it again. I didn’t know food could taste this good!
This recipe is seriously tasty! Like, liking the bowl tasty. Did I say it’s tasty??? OMG it is.
Beef Rendang is a Malaysian curry… Originally from INDONESIA though now more well known as a Malaysia curry??? WTF🤣🤣🤣
Yeah, my thoughts exactly 😂This is an Indonesian recipe! Plain and simple! Originated there and still widely eaten by Indonesians.
Absolute go to recipe in our house. The depth of flavour is incredible. Sometimes I adjust the number of dried chillies if I’m not feeling like spicy.
Hi- I am a recent convert to Rendang (an article caught my attention and I found it at a local restaurant and loved it). The only problem I have with the recipe is the lack of specificity with the dry and/or fresh chilies. I have little dry ones, bigger ones (puya), and my farmers market has habaneros, jalapenos, little thai chilies, poblanos, etc…
I made this with red jalapenos (I found another recipe that specified fresno chilies, and jalapenos close enough). IIt doesn’t taste quite the same as what I expected, and the sauce is orange, which I’ve never seen in a photo of rendang.
Can you advise me about a suitable type of dry chili and another type of fresh chili that makes the most sense with this recipe? Thank you in advance!