I love this curry. It’s my favorite dish. I usually make it in enormous quantities in a 24″ work: it takes 5 hours or so of stirring, and, vacuum-packed it keeps in the freezer for 2, 3 years (we tested this), and sous-vide reheated it comes out tasting like it was just made.
Bebi Rendang Daging (Thrice Fried Dry Curried Beef)
A dry fried curry, the beef is first browned, then stewed in coconut milk, until the oil separated out of it and the coconut milk is absorbed, the liquid boiled away, and then the beef is fried until it starts to almost fall apart, with a thready consistency.
Servings: 12
Equipment
- Large Wok
- Mortar and Pestle, Food Processor, or Blender
Ingredients
Meat
- 3 lbs Stewing Beef Cubed 1 1/2"
Spice Paste
- 1 ½ ea Shallots Chopped
- 6 cloves Garlic Crushed
- 8 ea Chili Peppers Unseeded, Chopped
- 8 ea Candlenuts Chopped
- 2 tsp Coriander Ground
- 2 tsp Cumin Ground
- 1 tsp Turmeric Ground
- ½ tsp Kerrie Djawa Ground
- ½ tsp Galangal Ground
- 1 tsp Sereh Ground
- 1 tsp Laos Ground
- 1 tbsp Coconut Milk
Frying
- 1 tbsp Peanut Milk
Simmering
- 2 cups Coconut Milk
- 1 ea Daum Salam Leaf
Instructions
- Put all the sauce paste ingredients into a blender.Blend with enough coconut milk to form a smooth thin paste.
- Mix the cubed meat with the spice paste until it is all covered.
- Fry the meat, coated in the spice paste until the spice paste turns a darker color and the meat is seared.
- Add the coconut milk.Stir and bring to a slow boil, stirring continuously.Reduce the heat to very low and simmer, uncovered, stirring continuously, until the meat is tender (about 2 hours).
- Once the oil separates, stir it back in.Continue cooking, stirring continuously until the beef is dark brown and thready, and has absorbed nearly all the sauce.
Notes
Originally based on a recipe in Indonesian Cookery by David Scott with Surya Winata : p. 85
Substitutions:
Almonds for Candle Nuts
Bay Leaf for Daum Salam
Sambal Oelek for Chili Peppers
Bay Leaf for Daum Salam
Sambal Oelek for Chili Peppers