Rendang Indonesian Beef Stew

Rendang is one of the most popular beef stews in the world. It originates from the Indonesian island Sumatra. The first written record of this recipe is made in the 16th Century.

To make sure I am getting you the best rendang I can think of, I called my friend Huub Hamar de La Brethoniere. He is the winner of the Dutch TV show Grillmasters. This Rendang recipe is his signature dish.

Course Beef, Main Course

Cuisine Indonesian

Servings people

Equipment

1 Skottsberg cast iron casserole/dutch oven 28cm
1 wok
1 Blender
1 Forged Sebra chefs knife 20cm
1 Cutting board
1 Barbecue tong
1 kitchen torch
1 Meater thermometer block

Ingredients

2 kg beef plate ribs
2 kg chuck roast steak

Boemboe

80 grams fresh garlic
600 grams onion
200 grams spanish pepper
80 grams kemiri nuts (candlenuts)
100 ml sunflower oil (for in the boemboe)
500 ml sunflower oil (for frying)
80 grams lemon grass
80 grams ginger
80 grams Loas galangal
1 piece dried kurkuma
2 lime leaves
4 salam leaves
2 cinnamon sticks

Spice mix

20 grams lampong pepper
20 grams coriander seeds
20 grams cumin seeds
40 grams salt

Final Rendang

10 cloves garlic
shrimp paste
100 grams palm sugar
400 ml coconut cream
50 grams coconut shaving

Instructions

Cut the fresh herbs for the boemboe into large chunks, except for the onions. Roast the ingredients in a super hot wok without oil until they have a little char on them. Now slice the onions into rings and grill them separately.
Roast the spice mix ingredients in the hot wok. Grind them down in your blender until you end up with the fine mixture. Set them aside for later.
Take the roasted garlic, candlenuts, the chili peppers and put them in a blender with 100 ml of oil. Grind the ingredients fine until you end up with a paste. This is called the boemboe.
Add sunflower oil to the wok and fry the boemboe paste. Fry the ingredients for about 5 minutes. Then add the onions, lemongrass, Laos, ginger, dried kurkuma, lime leaves, salam leaves, cinnamon sticks. Keep in stirring for another 5 minutes. The color of the boemboe needs to change to a darker color.
Smoke the beef ribs and the chuck roast over indirect heat at around 140°C/275°F for around 15 minutes. Cut the meat into steak size and grill them over direct heat for extra flavor.
Once grilled, cut the meat into cubes. Place the meat, the boemboe, and the spice mix into a dutch oven. To that, we add 10 cloves of garlic fine, fine chopped. A small piece of shrimp paste, 100 grams of palm sugar and 400 ml of coconut cream. Mix all of the ingredients together and let the Rendang simmer for 3 hours with the lid on.
For the last 30 minutes, we reduce the sauce by taking off the lid. Roast 50 grams of coconut shaving and add it to the rendang.