Daging Dendeng : So Sedap!

Remember my daging ding dong dendeng? The one that looked like a disaster? Well, after one attempt, I decided, no more!

Such a hassle and all that - boil beef, slice, deep fry, pound, fry in spice paste - so much work! Then I came up with a brain wave.

Why not use pre-sliced beef? It so happened that I had 2 packets of pre-sliced yakiniku beef that I intended to use for beef garam kunyit. These pre-sliced beef would really cut down on the number of steps i.e. the boiling and slicing of a slab of beef.

First thing I did was to prepare the spice paste. I did not have any fresh ginger in my kitchen, so I used ginger powder instead.

Then I used my meat hammer to pound each slice of beef to tenderize it.

Hammer of Phong Hong.

Then the slices of beef were fried in oil until browned and the edges crispy.

Oh ya, also fry up some lemongrass (serai) until browned too.

Next, saute (tumis) the spice paste until aromatic and oil rises to the top (pecah minyak). You need more oil for this and you can always remove the oil after cooking.

Add pre-fried beef/lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and some light soya sauce/sweet soya sauce.

Kautim! This daging dendeng is so aromatic and so very delicious. It's really wonderful eaten with rice. 

Well, I am so glad I found an easier way to cook daging dendeng. 

Daging Dendeng

Recipe source : Adapated from here

Ingredients :

- 400g pre-sliced beef

- 3 stalks lemongrass (cut into 1 inch length)

Spice paste (blended)

- 4 red chilies

- 2 red cili padi

- 2 red onions (small sized big onions)

- 4 cloves garlic

- 1/2 tsp ginger powder (because I did not have fresh ginger)

- 2 stalks lemongrass

- 6 kaffir lime leaves (3 to saute with spice paste and 3 to add at the end of cooking)

Seasoning :

- 1 tbsp light soya sauce

- 1 tbsp sweet soya sauce (kicap manis)

- 1 tsp sugar

Method :

1. Prepare the spice paste by blending together chilies, onions, garlic, ginger and lemongrass. Set aside.

2. Pound each slice of the beef to tenderize and cut each piece into two if you find it too big.

3. Heat oil in wok and deep fry the beef slices until browned and the the edges crispy. Remove and drain on paper towels.

4. In the same oil, fry the cut lemongrass until browned and fragrant. Remove and drain on paper towels.

5. In the same oil (remove some if you find there is too much) saute the blended spice paste together with 3 kaffir lime leaves until aromatic and oil rises to the top.

6. Add light soya sauce, sweet soya sauce and sugar.

7. Add fried beef, lemongrass and the remaining 3 kaffir lime leaves. Stir to mix everything together.

8. Dish out and serve.