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.
This dish is a huge hit in our house! Much more delicious than take out and so easy. It’s on the regular list!
And it’s so much more satisfying to make your own too Louise! I’m so glad you love it! N X
Tried this in a pressure cooker and the curry burned at the bottom of the pot after just a couple of minutes. Whole dish is ruined. Super disappointed.. So DO NOT try to make this in a pressure cooker!
Hi Piplet, sorry you had trouble here, this recipe is definitely doable in a pressure cooker – did you follow the recipe notes on how to cook it? N x
Absolutely delicious!! Followed the recipe to the letter but my meat didn’t up falling apart – help. I used chuck steak.
Overall pretty good but I always find that my curry is tasting bitter which I’m assuming from the spice paste. Can someone how I can remedy this and how to avoid this next time?
Amazing recipe! Best Indonesian meal I’ve ever cooked 🙂
This recipe is delicious!
I am a lover of Beef Rendang and seek it out when travelling across Asia. This is the best Beef Rendang recipe I’ve cooked.
Hi Nagi
Would love to try this but we are vegetarian, any veg subs you recommend?
Young (green) jackfruit; you can find it (usually in a can) at Asian grocery stores.
first time i made it SUCCESS , have now made the dish 3 times for different family members and all has been eaten …..thank you !!! cheers Paul
We made this for a family dinner and everyone was tormented by smelling it for hours! It turned out so delicious and indescribably complex and just awesome. It took a bit to get it going, but then pretty easy after that. The heat was a bit much for some and perfect for others. Love Indonesian food and this is really special.
Saw Gordon Ramsey trying this dish on his tv show. Did a quick search and found this recipe to be understandable. So happy with the blend of flavors. Highly recommend.
I cant seem to find dried chillies or cayenne peppers. Would i be able to substitute red chilli flakes instead of the dried chillies? Thanks!
Hi Nagi,
I was wondering whether you used green or black cardamon for your recipe? I have pods for both so I wanted to know which one I have to make the powder for?
This recipe calls for green cardamon
Thank you!
Hi Nagi,
I was wondering whether you used green or black cardamon for your recipe? I have pods for both so I wanted to know which one I would make the powder for?
I made this today. Was a bit worried about the amount of dry chillies (12!!) as hubby is a bit of a lightweight in the heat dept. but it is amazing..
Nagi, you were right, the slow cooking must take the edge off the chillies.
I’ve cooked a few of your curries and they all are so good and easy to prepare. No need for takeaway!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Diane, that’s great to hear! N x
Hi Nagi
I loved this recipe. Th result was fantastic and compared so well to rendang I enjoyed when living in Malaysia.
Silly Q – to scale the recipe for double the quantity of beef, would I just double everything?
Thanks
Hi Sumith, click on the number of servings and slide the scale up – all the ingredients will adjust for you 🙂 N x
Keen to try this with some stewing steak tmrw night! Can I do the covered part of the cook in the oven and then uncover and reduce on the stovetop? If so how long/what temp would you recommend it goes in the oven for? Thanks x
Hi Naji, I discovered your recipes during iso and just love your style! I was curious if there’s a store bought Rendang paste that you recommend? Thank you.
Hi Maya, I haven’t tried this with any store bought pastes yet. Maesri on a whole is my favourite brand of curry paste though – Nagi x
Loved the beef rendang recipe, my first time making a curry. The second attempt I substituted chicken and it was also great. Just finished making it with pork tenderloin as a substitute. Can’t wait to have it tomorrow.
Thanks so much.
Hi Nagy! Greetings from Argentina! Big fan of yours. I can’t find easily many ingredients, but chilies won’t find here for sure. Could I use chili powder or Cayenne powder instead? Thank you!
Followed instructions and used lemongrass paste instead and it came out soooo flavorful and yummy! Took a lot to not finish the entire pot!!! Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Beebha!!