INDONESIAN SPICY BEEF RENDANG

Okay... now it's about my comfort food again :) INDONESIAN SPICY BEEF RENDANG.. it's one of an authentic foods from Indonesia, to be precise, it's from West Sumatera region, it's famous with it's heat, very hot and spicy, as some of them would use a half kg of Birdseye chili to cook 1 kg of meat, that is the specialty, hot and spicy, it says that those who eat it should be sweating while eating it because of the heat.

There are hundreds way to cook it, after trying some of them, I finally settle with this way:

INDONESIAN SPICY BEEF RENDANG 
Ingredients:
A:
 3/4 lbs shallots
 6 cloves garlic
 20 Thai chili or Birdseye peppers 
 1 inch fresh ginger root
 1 inch of turmeric
 2 candle nuts (can substitute with macadamia nut)

B:
 2 to 3 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes (I usually use chuck roast as I like fatty meat)

C
 1 stalk lemon grass, smash
 1 inch galangal, smash
 1 tbsp ground coriander 
 1 tbsp of ground cumin 
 1 tsp grated nutmeg
 2 tbsp of grated palm sugar or 1 tbsp of brown sugar
 5 whole cloves
 1 cinnamon stick
 4 kaffir lime leaves, if you can't find it, substitute with 1 tbsp of lemon zest 
 2 bay leaves 
 1 tsp of tamarind paste 
 3 packs of coconut powder  
 salt to taste
 1 cups shredded coconut, toast and finely blend 


Method:


1. Using a blender or a food processor, blend ingredients A until forming thick paste, set aside 
2. Heat a larger wok, add 1/2 cup of canola or vegetable oil, add the spice paste, kaffir lime leaves and bay leaves, sautee it until brown, fragrant and oily
3. add in ground coriander, cumin, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon stick, smashed galangal lemon grass , tamarind paste, salt and palm sugar, cook for few minutes, stir continuously, add beef, keep stirring until all the meats are well coated with the spices 
4. move meats to a slow cooker, let it cook for hours until the meats are  tender,almost as tender as you like, stir it occasionally, meanwhile do not wash the wok, we'll need it later 
5. dish out the meats with all the juice and put them back in the wok, using medium heat, add the 3 packs of coconut powder, keep stirring continuously until the sauce reduced and thickened (it takes some time :)), add in the toasted coconut, give it some last quick stirs 

I know it's time consuming but worth every minutes.. and I know it's not consider healthy food because of the fat  but who cares, I don't eat it everyday :) I usually cook a big pot, 5 to 6 lbs of beef, separate in few bags and freeze it, at any time I have company over for dinner, I'd take some out and heat it, my husband and some of our American friends love it too, so I cook it with moderate heat 


Serve it with warm steamed white or brown rice, or mash potatoes or even couscous 

and you can add hard boiled eggs or potato or carrot too 

here is the my coconut powder, my favorite brand, it's made in Indonesia, you can use other brands, mostly from Thailand