Name: Rendang Pedang
Ingredients: beef stew meat; turmeric; serrano chile; hot paprika; ground coriander; brown sugar; salt; lemongrass rice; jaggery; fresh ginger; ground cumin; tamicon brand; garlic; lemongrass; tamarind concentrate; coconut milk; red bell pepper

Liana Krissoff

Rendang Pedang

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Slow Cook Modern

By Liana Krissoff

Published 2017

About

WITH lemongrass rice

ALSO GOOD WITH corn on the cob, basic coconut rice, OR gingered Asian pear salad

Rendang is one of my all-time favorite foods, partly for sentimental reasons (on our first not-date, six or so years before we got married, Derek and I had Indonesian food) and partly because it hits all my favorite notes: spicy (chiles fresh and ground), herby (lemongrass, and lots of it), and tart (tamarind).

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 serrano chile, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2-inch (5-cm) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon hot paprika
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ (13.5-ounce/400-ml) can coconut milk
2 large stalks lemongrass, chopped, tough tops and outer leaves trimmed off and reserved for lemongrass rice
1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate, such as Tamicon brand
½ tablespoon jaggery or brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
2 pounds (910 g) beef stew meat

Method

Morning

In a good blender or mini food processor, combine the bell pepper, serrano chile, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, hot paprika, turmeric, coconut milk, chopped lemongrass, tamarind, jaggery, and salt. Puree until very smooth, then scrape into the slow cooker. Add the beef and turn to coat it with the sauce. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Evening

If the sauce is very thin, ladle as much of it as possible from the cooker into a wide saucepan (leaving the beef in the cooker pot). Bring the sauce to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat a bit and boil, stirring frequently, until the sauce is reduced and thickened somewhat. Season with more salt, if needed, then return the sauce to the cooker with the beef and serve.