My Two Day Rendang Tok

Who takes two days to cook rendang? heh..heh... Day one to simmer the meat until tender and day two to stir it until dry. That's me 😜

I love beef rendang but it is quite a time consuming dish which is not difficult to cook.

A blender helps you make the spice paste and as for kerisik, you can easily buy good ready made ones from the shop.

Gone were the days where you had to pound the spice paste by hand and then invest some more energy to make kerisik.

And even better, you can use a pressure cooker or a slow cooker to make your delicious rendang. I basically sauteed the spice paste and then added the beef.

Saute some more until the beef is well coated with the spice paste and then plonk everything into the slow cooker.

Add santan and then let the slow cooker do its job. By the time the beef was tender, it was evening. This auntie must watch CSI, so the rendang was scooped into a corningware, left to cool and then placed in the fridge.

The next day, I transferred the rendang into my trusty wok and  continued to simmer and stir until the rendang was dry.

Then it was time to taste my two-day masterpiece. It better be good. I almost fainted because the rendang was divine. Most divine!

This recipe is a mix and match from Chef Wan and Chef Hanieliza. I could not decide whose version to follow, so I picked and chose what I liked from both recipes. I did not want to buy lengkuas because I hardly use it. So I left it out.

Rendang Tok

Recipe source : Adapted from Simply Sedap by Chef Wan and Senangnya Memasak Daging by Chef Hanieliza

Ingredients :

- 700g beef, cut into cubes (I used chuck beef)

- 200ml santan
- 80g kerisik

- 1 tbsp cumin powder

- 1 tbsp fennel powder

- 1 tbsp coriander powder

- 2 star anise

- 4 cloves

-  1 piece tamarind (asam gelugur)

- 2 kafir lime leaves

- 2 turmeric leaves, finely sliced

- 1 tsp salt or to taste

- 2 tbsp brown sugar or to taste

Blended spices :

- 10 dried chilies, soaked to soften

- 1 big onion

- 8 shallots

- 3 cloves garlic

- 1" ginger

- 4 stalks lemongrass

Method :

1. Add cumin powder, fennel powder and coriander powder into the blend spice paste. Stir to mix.

2. Heat oil in wok and saute the blended spice paste, star anise and cloves until aromatic.

3. Add beef and stir until beef is coated with the spice paste.

4. Transfer into slow cooker (or continue to cook in the wok or pot) and add santan, asam gelugor, kafir lime leaves  and turmeric leaves.

5. Simmer until beef is tender.

6. Add kerisik and season with salt and sugar to taste. Continue to simmer and stir frequently until rendang is fairly dry. (If cooking in slow cooker like I did, transfer rendang to wok and continue to simmer and stir till fairly dry)

7. Serve with rice. Can also be made into a wonderful sandwich filling.