Beef rendang with rice and green beans
205 min · 56 g protein · 571 cals / serving
West Sumatra's great slow curry: beef simmered for hours in coconut milk with lemongrass, ginger, shallots and a fistful of red chillies, until the liquid is gone and the dark, spicy paste clings to the meat. Lean beef, light coconut milk and a little toasted coconut make it lighter, and steamed green beans and cool cucumber sit beside a small scoop of rice.
Ingredients
Beef
- 2 lb beef top round top round steak, in 4 cm (1 1/2-inch) cubes
Spice paste
- 6 shallots, roughly chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 thumbs ginger, peeled; use half galangal if you can find it
- 2 stalks lemongrass, tender centre sliced; keep the tops
- 6 long red chillies red chili peppers, seeded for less heat
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp canola oil
Braise
- 1 cup light coconut milk
- 1 2/3 cups water
- 2 tsp paste tamarind
- 1 1/4 tsp brown sugar, or palm sugar
- 2 tsp lime juice, plus a strip of zest, or 4 makrut lime leaves
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp shredded coconut, unsweetened, toasted golden and pounded (kerisik)
To serve
- 1/2 cup jasmine rice
- 1 lb green beans, trimmed
- 1 cucumber, in thick slices
Steps
- Blend the shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, chillies, turmeric and coriander with 2 tablespoons of water to a smooth paste.
- Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat and fry the paste, stirring, for 6–8 minutes until it smells sweet and darkens a shade. Add the beef, coconut milk, water, tamarind, sugar, lime juice and zest, salt and the bruised lemongrass tops. Bring to a simmer, then cook uncovered over low heat for 2 1/2 hours, stirring every 15–20 minutes, until the beef is tender and the sauce has thickened.
- Stir in the toasted coconut and keep cooking, now stirring often, for 20–30 minutes more, until the sauce has cooked down to a thick, dark paste that clings to the beef. Fish out the lemongrass tops.
- Cook the rice, and steam the green beans for 4–5 minutes. Serve the rendang with a small scoop of rice each, the beans and the cucumber.
Good to know
Why is it so dry?
That is rendang. The sauce cooks down until it is a thick, dark paste clinging to the beef, and that last stage, when it starts to catch and caramelise, is where the deep flavour comes from. Stir more often as it thickens so it does not burn.
Can I use chuck?
Yes, chuck is the classic cut and turns even more tender. It carries more fat, so the score moves from about 63 to 44.
Does it keep?
Better than most dishes: rendang tastes best on day two and keeps 4 days in the fridge or 3 months frozen.
Alternatives
Per
- Calories
- 115
- Protein
- (40%)
- 11 g
- Fat
- (26%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (33%)
- 10 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 142 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2285 kcal goes into the pot and 2738 g of ingredients comes out as about 1980 g of food: 115 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.