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Home Collections Curries

Beef Rendang

By:Nagi
Published:26 May '17Updated:8 Oct '19
432 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

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!

The King of all Curries, Beef Rendang is straight forward to make and has incredible deep, complex flavours. Quick recipe video provided! recipetineats.com

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!

The King of all Curries, Beef Rendang is straight forward to make and has incredible deep, complex flavours. Quick recipe video provided! recipetineats.com

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!

Beef Rendang Spice Paste

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:

  1. Blitz curry paste ingredient in food processor;

  2. Brown the beef;

  3. Cook off the curry paste – releases amazing flavour!

  4. 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.

The King of all Curries, Beef Rendang is straight forward to make and has incredible deep, complex flavours. Quick recipe video provided! recipetineats.com

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!

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The King of all Curries, Beef Rendang is straight forward to make and has incredible deep, complex flavours. Quick recipe video provided! recipetineats.com

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

Beef Rendang recipe video!

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The King of all Curries, Beef Rendang is straight forward to make and has incredible deep, complex flavours. Quick recipe video provided! recipetineats.com

Beef Rendang

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 3 hrs
Total: 3 hrs 20 mins
Curry, Slow cooking
Asian, Malaysian
4.95 from 117 votes
Servings6
Tap or hover to scale
Print
RECIPE VIDEO above. Beef Rendang is a Malaysian curry and is an extravagantly rich dish that is easy to prepare but takes time and patience to slow cook. Unlike many curries, this is a "dry" curry which means the beef is not swimming in sauce. Though you may think that the sauce is often the best part of a curry, the beef is "fall apart at a touch" tender and covered in a thick, saucy curry which then mixes through the rice so it is not in the least bit "dry"! This can be made in a slow cooker (see notes) but I recommend making this on the stove for best results.

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:

1a. Chillies - 12 dried chillies or long red fresh chillies (cayenne pepper) (seeds in) makes a fairly spicy curry but it's not "blow your head off" spicy because the long cook time tempers the spiciness. You can adjust the level of spiciness to your taste - use 6 for a mild curry. To reduce spiciness, you can deseed the chilli - I do not do this. 
If using dried chillies, rehydrate in boiling water (use lots, ignore the measly splash I used in the video, that was a mistake).
1b. Onion: Use a brown, white or yellow onion about the size of a tennis ball. Or half a large one  or 6 shallots/eschallots chopped
2. Lemongrass: to prepare, peel the reedy green shell to reveal the softer white part on the bottom half of the lemongrass. Slice the white part and very pale green part only - the green part is too reedy.
If lemongrass is hard to come by, you can use PASTE: 2 tsp in the spice mix and add an extra teaspoon when you add the coconut milk etc. 🙂
3. Galangal is like ginger but it has a more sour and peppery flavour. If you can't find it, just substitute with more ginger and a grind of black pepper.
4. Beef - You can use any slow cooking cut of beef for this recipe but chuck is best. As with all slow cooked beef recipes, the fattier beef, the juicier the meat will be when cooked. Gravy beef and beef cheeks are also good. Brisket will work but has less fat throughout so not as juicy.
It is best to buy one piece and cut it yourself into large cubes about the size of golf balls. Larger cubes are better for this dish because this is not only slow cooked but also cooked down to reduce the sauce to almost a "paste" like consistency and if you use small pieces of beef, they may fall apart and shred in the pot when you stir the curry. It is much easier to handle larger pieces.
5. Smash the lemongrass to help the flavour infuse into the curry. Use the side of your knife, a meat mallet or a tin.
6. Tamarind puree is made from tamarind fruit. It is quite tart, but not as sour as lemon. You can buy tamarind puree from the Asian section of large supermarkets in Australia (or Asian grocery stores). If you are using tamarind pulp (sticky block of dried tamarind), soak it in 2 tbsp of hot water and remove the seeds, then use as per recipe directions.
You can substitute the tamarind with 2 tsp of vinegar (white or brown, but not balsamic) or lemon juice.
7. Kaffir Lime Leaves - there is no substitute for the earthy lime flavour you get from fresh kaffir lime leaves so I really recommend buying fresh ones. They freeze well and last for ages and are commonly found in many South East Asian dishes. You can substitute with dried kaffir lime leaves. As a last resort, you can use 1 tbsp of lime juice + the rind of 1 lime, but the flavour will not be quite the same.
8. Slow Cooker - To make this in a slow cooker, do the steps up to searing the beef in a pan then pour the contents in your slow cooker. Pour 1/2 cup water into the pan and bring to simmer, making sure to scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan to mix in with the water, then pour the water into the slow cooker (make sure you scrape in as much of the brown bits as you can!). Slow cook on low for 6 hours. Then pour the curry into a pot and follow the recipe steps to reduce the sauce.
Pressure cooker / instant pot - follow slow cooker steps but cook on high for 30 minutes, allow to depressurise naturally for 10 minutes before releasing steam.
9. This is what happens when the Sauce reduces: Once the sauce reduces right down, the oil will separate (see photo in post). Then you end up browning the beef in that oil - this is where the deep brown Rendang colour comes from. Rendang is not a wet, saucy curry, it all reduces down into a sticky paste that coats the beef. 
By this time, the beef should be "fall apart at a touch" and there will be bits of shredded beef that looks like coconut that stick to the beef.
10. Simple Lightly Pickled Cucumber Side that goes with this well: Slice cucumbers on the diagonal and place into a bowl. For each cucumber you are using, sprinkle over 1 tsp of rice wine vinegar, a small pinch of salt and white sugar (each). Leave to lightly pickle for at least 20 minutes, up to 24 hours.
11. STORING: Rendang, like other slow cooked things, just gets better with time. Great on the day it's made, fantastic the next day and the next. Freezes well too.
12. Originally published in November 2014, updated to improve as follows: original recipe used whole cardamon and cloves, these are impossible to pick out and I don't like crunching into them. So I now use powder. Also, in authentic recipes, the curry paste goes in first then the beef is added. Doing it this way, the beef does not brown. I like browning beef first because you get that gorgeous caramelisation that adds flavour.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 323gCalories: 675cal (34%)Carbohydrates: 10.9g (4%)Protein: 63.4g (127%)Fat: 42.1g (65%)Saturated Fat: 24.7g (154%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 17.4gCholesterol: 179mg (60%)Sodium: 847mg (37%)Fiber: 3.1g (13%)Sugar: 5.4g (6%)
Keywords: beef rendang
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

 

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Let’s not feel too sorry for him though. He’s been pretty pampered.

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432 Comments

  1. Richar says

    April 15, 2021 at 9:31 am

    Boo hoo I struggled w this recipe! My chuck steak did not go quite as tender as I thought it should and although that separation of the oil worked perfectly and browned the beef, my bad! I reckon it might be because I cooked in a large, wide, heavy based frypan so the sauce didn’t cover the meat enough during the slow cook. Next time I’ll use a saucepan (like the recipe shows ha ha!)🏄‍♂️

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 15, 2021 at 4:28 pm

      Hi Richar, yes that would definitely have contributed to uneven cooking of the beef, you need it submerged so it can cook properly 🙂 N x

      Reply
  2. Dana Vanhove says

    April 12, 2021 at 8:36 am

    The tamarind paste was a bit much–the citrusy flavor took over the dish, so I attempted to balance it with some miso. Next time I’ll prob only use a quarter of the tamarind. Otherwise, fantastic dish! (Made with the restaurant style coconut rice, which came out PERFECT!)

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 12, 2021 at 2:01 pm

      Hi Dana, sorry you had issues, it shouldn’t overpower the dish at all. Can I ask what brand you used? N x

      Reply
  3. Josie says

    April 7, 2021 at 7:37 pm

    Just wondering about the kaffir lime leaves. They grow as a double leaf… is that double leaf counted as one or two leaves for this?
    Love your recipes!!

    Reply
  4. Holly Flickinger says

    March 26, 2021 at 12:40 am

    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!

    Reply
  5. Mary says

    March 23, 2021 at 12:57 am

    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?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      March 23, 2021 at 1:18 pm

      Hi Mary, sorry you didn’t find it tender – can I ask what cut of been you used? N x

      Reply
  6. Sue Theron says

    March 21, 2021 at 6:26 pm

    im wondering about substituting kangaroo in this, or maybe potatoes/ tempeh for a vego version

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      March 22, 2021 at 10:28 am

      Hi Sue, kangaroo may be too lean here, I’d need to test a vegetarian option! – N x

      Reply
  7. Michelle says

    March 9, 2021 at 8:24 pm

    5 stars
    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. .

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      March 10, 2021 at 10:52 am

      WOOT! That’s so good to hear Michelle, thanks so much for the great feedback! N x

      Reply
  8. Eric says

    March 6, 2021 at 9:30 am

    5 stars
    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.

    Reply
    • Sue Theron says

      March 21, 2021 at 6:25 pm

      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)

      Reply
  9. Yana says

    March 5, 2021 at 2:30 am

    Another Delicious recipe thank you!

    Reply
  10. Theresa says

    March 4, 2021 at 5:52 am

    If i dont have clove powder or cardamon powder, can I use actual cloves and cardamon? If so, how much of each?

    Reply
  11. Suzanne says

    March 2, 2021 at 8:42 pm

    5 stars
    Absolutely delicious. Making it for the second time today

    Reply
  12. Caroline says

    February 8, 2021 at 11:20 pm

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
  13. Broken Veneers says

    January 11, 2021 at 11:22 pm

    5 stars
    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

    Reply
  14. Jessica says

    December 13, 2020 at 1:59 am

    5 stars
    Hi! Sweetened or unsweetened coconut flakes?

    Reply
    • Broken Veneers says

      January 11, 2021 at 11:25 pm

      I would say definitely unsweetened. The sweet & sour balance comes from the tamarind & palm sugar. The coconut flakes create flavour & thickness.

      Reply
  15. Jaap Creutzberg says

    December 5, 2020 at 7:41 am

    I like to add a teaspoon of trassi (belacan) to give it a true Indonesian flavour.

    Reply
  16. Ursula Cole says

    November 12, 2020 at 12:24 pm

    5 stars
    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.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 12, 2020 at 8:19 am

      Same! This website’s amazing!!

      Reply
    • Mihoko says

      December 13, 2020 at 3:13 pm

      5 stars
      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

      Reply
      • Ciara Rooney says

        March 4, 2021 at 10:57 am

        If I multiple the recipe, let’s say by 3, does that mean I need to multiple the summer time by 3 as well?

        Reply
  17. Geof says

    November 10, 2020 at 9:00 am

    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

    Reply
  18. Rae says

    November 5, 2020 at 6:12 pm

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
    • Geof says

      November 10, 2020 at 9:04 am

      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.

      Reply
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