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.
Ate this dish often when I lived in Suriname! Had so much fun preparing to make this recipe…learning about new ingredients like keffir lime, shopping at the international market here in Oslo, and smelling all the smells! So good! My eight month old can’t try it because of the chilis but he cried for a good five minutes while he smelled and stared! ha ha ha Thanks for the great recipe!
The sauce was delicious, but the meat wasn’t as tender as I’d hoped- even with extra time. I think this might be more due to the quality of the beef available at my local store! Is it possible to replace with lamb or pork?
Hi Mary, sorry you didn’t find it tender – can I ask what cut of been you used? N x
im wondering about substituting kangaroo in this, or maybe potatoes/ tempeh for a vego version
Hi Sue, kangaroo may be too lean here, I’d need to test a vegetarian option! – N x
Beef Rendang is a favourite dish of mine, and I’ve eaten it all around Asia. I made this today as my 3rd attempt at rendang. The first 2 used a different recipe but were mostly a disappointment as the beef that’s available where I live is not good quality. Both times the meat was chewy even after an eternity in the pan and/or slow cooker.
Today I made it on the stove top using beef cheeks following this recipe and it was awesome! Also used home made tamarind paste (had no idea how easy THAT was to make), lemongrass from my garden, and makrut lime leaves from a neighbour’s garden. I stirred in about 1/2 cup of chopped coriander at the end and also as a garnish.
The flavours were wonderful, each of the ingredients had a presence of it’s own as well as combining for that distinctive rendang flavour. It was great to see the sauce split and the beef fry in the fragrant oil.
Fab recipe, this will be my go to moving forward and I highly recommend beef cheeks for that melt in the mouth texture. .
WOOT! That’s so good to hear Michelle, thanks so much for the great feedback! N x
Excellent but I’ve adapted a whole food Plant-Based diet so your non-meat version would be great. I was thinking of maybe using black beans as the “meat”. Not a fan of tofu really.
Young or green jackfruit is a suitable alternative. You can get canned young jackfruit at your regular supermarket (health food aisle)
Fresh jackfruit (young) is a suitable alternative: https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2020/10/20/why-everyones-embracing-jackfruit
Jackfruit (fresh) can be used as a substitute for meat in curries
id also be interested in a vegetarian option. Im wondering about tempeh or texture vegetable protein, or even quartered potatoes. This would be added towards the end (no need to slow cook)
Another Delicious recipe thank you!
If i dont have clove powder or cardamon powder, can I use actual cloves and cardamon? If so, how much of each?
Absolutely delicious. Making it for the second time today
I was born and raised in Indonesia. Rendang is one of my favorite. Like you said, the king of the curry. Nothing better to expression rendang just like you said! Your recipe is faboulus! I like it a bit wet, not really dry. Love it!
I made this for the first tonight. It was amazing. My spice paste didn’t darken very much in the pan but I did add some chilled water to the nutribullet after a few attempts at pulsing it. I read another recipe elsewhere that suggested chilled water. We used a tougher meat – reduced to 1/2 price due to best by date = $9/1.5kilos. We cut larger pieces and made it a 3 hour cook time + 45 minutes without a lid for sauce reduction. Really appreciated your video with the reduction & we got the same result – perfection! We will definitely be cooking this again. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us x
Hi! Sweetened or unsweetened coconut flakes?
I would say definitely unsweetened. The sweet & sour balance comes from the tamarind & palm sugar. The coconut flakes create flavour & thickness.
I like to add a teaspoon of trassi (belacan) to give it a true Indonesian flavour.
I made this twice now. I feel I can make your food a lot easier than some of the other sites I have tried. Such good simple guides and tips. Thanks you.
I made twice before from the different recipe (the cooking school in Penang once & did it the same at home) but your one is just as good as hers but a lot simpler to follow. Took about same amount time but with yours, i could have a rest in between. winwin! Thank you
If I multiple the recipe, let’s say by 3, does that mean I need to multiple the summer time by 3 as well?
You shouldn’t have to, I tripled it the first time, because I needed to feed a bunch of people and every one of her recipes have been spot on.
Because it’s cooked in a larger pot, on a larger burner, it should take about the same amount of time.
Same! This website’s amazing!!
I used to get this at an Indonesian restaurant near my old home in ATL. I started making this with the premixed spice packs from the market and beef shanks. I tried pressure cooker and Crock Pot. I never got it to the consistency of the restaurant. It never occurred to me to combine the techniques.
I did try mixing some beef tendon in with the shanks. That always added some nice creamy gelatin to the curry.
I am looking forward to trying your recipe out.
Thanks
Aloha
Nagi! I’m in the middle of cooking this, it tastes great however it’s quite spicy! I’m at the sauce reducing stage, Will the heat mellow a little or is there something I can do? I love SUPER SPICY but Dad is coming to dinner and he doesn’t! HELP!
You could always put a bit more coconut milk in your dad’s portion, it’s excellent for taking the edge off.
Starches and sugars are good for taking the edge off of spicy. A nice big pile of brown coconut rice would probably help with the heat.
So good!
I’m so glad you loved it Nicole! N x
I made this tonight and came out delicious. The family loved it. I used cardoman pods because it’s what I had on hand. I tied the pods, star anise and cloves into a cheese cloth so no one would accidentally bite into of them.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have any tamarind purée so I’m not sure how much of a difference it would have made in the taste.
Thanks for sharing.
Made this last night for the first time. Bloomin’ gorgeous. Thank you for the recipe.
Hello Nagi. This dish is amazing 🙂 I made this the other day and paired it with your Restaurant Style Coconut Rice. We felt like we were dining in a Malaysian restaurant. Soo good. I made the first part in the Instant Pot (browning the meat and boiling the meat) and then i transferred it to another pot/stove for 30-40 minutes to reduce the sauce as per your instruction. Perfect . thank you for sharing all your wonderful recipes.
First of all: my love -thank you so much for all your work and dilligence. You have been a God send to my skills and knowledge. I have routinely cooked so many of your impecable recipes for the last two years. They are wonderful. This one is by far my fave! I dine out and cook in many “ethnic” dishes and this one was life changing! My only added tip after making it more than once is to please instruct readers to be mindful of first pulling out the many strands of lemon grass and cinammon stalk that break down while cooking. There can be many and they’re fibrous and a danger to the texture if not removed. Otherwise: please keep up the excellent work. Love, a BIG fan from the states. xoxo.