The KING OF ALL CURRIES is here!!! Beef Rendang has incredible depth of flavour, with complexity and many layers of spices. It’s straight forward to make, though it does take time and perhaps a trip to the Asian grocery store (though Sydney-siders will find everything at Woolies). Watch the video and drool!
Beef Rendang
This Beef Rendang recipe is from a payroll lady at a company I used to work for. It’s her Malaysian mother’s recipe. I still remember, so many years later, how we used to bond over food at the water cooler!
I actually first published this recipe a couple of years ago but I’ve made some minor improvements that will make your life easier without changing the flavour at all. Plus I made a recipe video!
Beef Rendang is the king of all curries!
What is Beef Rendang?
Beef Rendang is a Malaysian curry and is considered by many to be the king of all curries! To say it’s extravagantly delicious is an understatement. There are very few curries in this world with such amazingly complex flavours.
Originally from Indonesia though now more well known as a Malaysia curry, the sauce is made with aromatic spices like cinnamon, cardamom and star anise as well as fresh aromatics including lemongrass, garlic, ginger and galangal.
Unlike many curries, Beef Rendang is a dry curry which means there is not loads of sauce. However, the meat is so ridiculously tender and has a thick coating of sauce on each piece, so when the meat literally falls apart at a touch, it mixes through rice, flavouring it like saucy curries.
If you love South East Asian curries, Beef Rendang is without a doubt one of the best!
Here in Sydney, you can get all the ingredients for Beef Rendang at Woolworths and Coles. Seriously!
How to make Beef Rendang
Though there’s a fair few ingredients in this, some of which may not be familiar to you and are certainly not everyday ingredients even in my world, it’s actually quite a straightforward recipe:
Blitz curry paste ingredient in food processor;
Brown the beef;
Cook off the curry paste – releases amazing flavour!
Add everything else in and slow cook until the beef is ultra tender.
An interesting cooking method with Beef Rendang is the way it gets the deep brown colour. All throughout the video, right up until the very end, you will notice that the sauce is a pale brown colour. It’s not until the very end when the sauce reduces right down and the oil separates that it turns brown, essentially the browning of the beef in the oil of the sauce.
This Beef Rendang can be made in a slow cooker, but I find it easiest to make it all on the stove. Especially given it starts on the stove with the browning of the beef and spice paste, then finishes on the stove with the reducing of the sauce and browning of the beef (this part cannot be done in a slow cooker).
This is one of those recipes that just gets better with time. So whenever possible, I try to make this a day or two in advance. It also freezes extremely well.
I serve this with my Restaurant Style Coconut Rice because it’s my copycat of the coconut rice you get at the posh modern Asian restaurants! – Nagi xx
PS You see those bits stuck on the beef that could be shredded coconut?? It’s not. It’s bits of shredded BEEF. Because it’s so tender by the end, when you’re stirring it, some bits do flake off. YUM!
MORE GREAT CURRIES OF THE WORLD!
- Biryani (it’s amazing!)
- Chicken Tikka Masala
- Dal (Indian lentil curry)
- Thai Red Curry
- Massaman Curry
- Browse the Curry Collection
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Beef Rendang recipe video!
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Beef Rendang
Ingredients
Spice Paste
- 12 dried chilies, rehydrated in boiling water, or 12 large fresh (Note 1a)
- 1 small onion, finely chopped (Note 1b)
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 lemongrass stalks, white part only, sliced (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh galangal, finely chopped (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 2 tbsp oil (vegetable, canola or peanut oil)
Curry
- 2 lb/ 1 kg chuck steak, or other slow cooking beef, cut into 4cm / 1.6″ cubes (Note 4)
- 1 tbsp oil (vegetable, peanut, canola)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/4 tsp clove powder
- 3 star anise
- 1/2 tsp cardamon powder
- 1 lemongrass stick, bottom half of the stick only and smashed (Note 5)
- 400ml / 14 oz coconut milk (1 standard can)
- 2 tsp tamarind puree / paste, or tamarind pulp soaked in 1 tbsp of hot water, seeds removed (Note 6)
- 4 large kaffir lime leaves (or 6 small) , very finely sliced (Note 7)
- 1/3 cup desiccated coconut (finely shredded coconut)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar or grated palm sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Place Spice Paste ingredients in a small food processor and whizz until fine. NOTE: If using dried chilli and you know your food processor is not that powerful, chop the chilli first.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large heavy based pot over high heat. Add half the beef and brown, then remove onto plate. Repeat with remaining beef.
- Lower heat to medium low. Add Spice Paste and cook for 2 – 3 minutes until the wetness has reduced and the spice paste darkens (don’t breathe in too much, the chilli will make you cough!).
- Add remaining Curry ingredients and beef. Stir to combine.
- Bring to simmer, then immediately turn down the heat to low or medium low so the sauce is bubbling very gently.
- Put the lid on the pot and leave it to simmer for 1 hr 15 minutes.
- Remove lid and check the beef to see how tender it is. You don’t want it to be “fall apart at a touch” at this stage, but it should be quite tender. If it is fall apart already, remove the beef from the pot before proceeding.
- Turn up heat to medium and reduce sauce for 30 – 40 minutes, stirring every now and then at first, then frequently towards the end until the beef browns and the sauce reduces to a paste that coats the beef. (Note 9)
- The beef should now be very tender, fall apart at a touch. If not, add a splash of water and keep cooking. Remove from heat and serve with plain or Restaurant Style Coconut Rice.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Dozer’s got a boo boo. i.e. Shredded his paw by tearing manically across a bed of oyster shells in pursuit of a pelican.
Let’s not feel too sorry for him though. He’s been pretty pampered.
I made this added fresh lime at the end & the salad was lovely. With the coconut rice this was a fave even with the diehards
This is a great recipe. Absolutely delicious. I did 2 things differently. I cooked it in the oven, lid on for 2 hours at 12o degrees celsius. Then reduced it on the stove. I also toasted the desiccated coconut before adding it in.
I haven’t actually done this recipe yet but want to try it. I make 4 – 5 weekly meals for my son and he loves these type of flavours. My question is … can I use dried kafir leaves? I have been using them for all my Thai recipes he asks me for …. Oh , never mind, I read your notes. I absolutely love your recipes. Thank you for helping me be a better cook/chef
You can totally use dried lime leaves, but honestly, there’s nothing in the world that smells as amazing as the fresh ones. You can even buy them on eBay & freeze the leftovers – that’s what I do cos I can’t them in any shops here. I’d really urge you to try fresh as least once, it’d be terrible to miss out 😉
Unbelievably delicious recipe. Put it onto the slow cooker for 8 hours on low, the most delicious flavoursome curry ever , yum!!!!
This recipe is my absolute favourite, taste better than my local restaurant. 100% recommend
This is the first time I have Beef Rendang from scratch and made for a curry night last Friday. Turned out absolutely fab and I was the favourite amongst friends. I did not have dried chillies, so used Sambal Olek instead. Loved the detail instructions. Will most definitely make again.
This was utterly delicious. It’s quite labour intensive but it’s SO worth it! Will definitely be adding it to our rotation of dinners.
Loved the curry, I cooked it where there was still some sauce & I added extra dried chilli, which i dry heated in pan & de-seeded. Still turned out spicy. Yum. Next day not as saucy but full of flavour. Perfect with coconut rice. Num num in tum tum
This was absolutely sensational served with the coconut rice! The chuck I had needed just a little longer cooking time until it was perfect.
I’m tempted to double this recipe next time so I can have a freezer stash, as it reheats beautifully after being frozen
Made this for dinner tonight, and we were not disappointed. Very flavourful even though I subbed lemongrass paste instead of lemongrass stalks, and lemon juice instead of tamarind. Only had gravy beef in the freezer, so it took a little longer to get tender, and consequently was a little dry. Next time will definitely use chuck. Great recipe though 👌
My second time making this. First time I cut the pieces too small. And all the meat fell apart. This time they were too big so wasn’t tender at all after one and a quarter hours when you’re supposed to take the lid off and turn up the heat. All worked out fine except that as I had to cook it for longer the star anise crumbled and couldn’t be seen but we kept biting into little bits of ‘wood’. Although not in the recipe @recipetin I’d suggest removing the star anise and cinnamon sticks when you take the lid off to avoid this happening. It’s going to be perfect when I make it for the third time!
Agreed, it should definitely say ‘Rendang’ is an Indonesian curry popular in Malaysia, rather than ‘a Malaysian curry originating in Indonesia.’ My mum is Indonesian and we grew up eating rendang so will definitely try this recipe to compare!
This was absolutely delicious! We used leftover Christmas beef. Definitely making again. We were blown away by the flavour!
I starting making this on Friday and finished off the cooking on Sunday afternoon to serve Sunday night – OMG! incredible. I served with Roti and rice. Every guest loved it. Amazing. Leaving it in fridge for 24 hours plus before continuing cooking enhanced the flavours. THANK YOU Nagi. I”m a new FAN of yours.
Sensational! Love love love this one. It’s the best curry hands down. I used 9 chillies and the heat was at its limit for me. I’ll scale it back a little next time. Had a side of cucumber, tomato and coriander just like the locals. Perfection.
Phenomenal recipe! I substituted ancho chilies because we cannot take too much heat! It was wonderful.
This was so delicious! I reduced the chilli drastically and I baked the dish in a 150 degree C oven for 3 hours, which reduced the sauce nicely.
Hi bro, when do you add the desiccated coconut?
Did you read the instructions or watch the video? It’s step 4.
bro, when do you add the desiccated coconut?
We had the best Rendang at Bernadettes Waroeng in Seminyak. This came close. Couldn’t find the galangal, but added more ginger and pepper. We loved it. Can’t wait for the leftovers.