They Say This Was the Best Beef in the World. They Were Right.

Beef Rendang. It's an Indonesian classic that's rich, spicy, and slow-cooked until it melts in your mouth. I'd never heard of it, until I met a staff member on a cruise I recently went on who told me it was his favorite dish in the world and that I had to make it. But more on that in a bit. For now, let's bang out some prep. Sound good? Let's cook. I'm going to start by toasting up some shredded unsweetened coconut. So in a wok, I'm going to add in four total cups. Not sure I'll need all of it, but let's find out. I'm turning the heat up to low-medium-ish, and my goal here is to constantly move it around to toast it up until light to golden brown. I usually do this in the oven, but everything I researched had you doing it in the pan. While I anticipated this being a relatively short process, I'm only seven to eight minutes in, and I'm quickly realizing that maybe it's browning a little too fast. It's pretty dark, but it doesn't taste burnt, so the next step is to really pulverize this, so that it becomes like a loose paste. And while a mortar and pestle is more traditional to use, the food processor is about to be my best friend today. And multiple pulses or on high should do the trick, but it's going to take some stopping and scraping to ensure everything is getting pureed down. And honestly, I'm not feeling great about this. I think I cooked it too long. Shoot. Yeah, I mean, this is obviously the first time I've ever made this. I think it's a little too dark. It's got a bit of a bitter aftertaste, so yep, gotta go back to the grocery store. Back to the store we go, and hey, always good to be humbled, especially if it's in your profession. Get two, just in case. Learning from mistakes in the kitchen is just how you get better. All right, back in the kitchen and back to the drawing board. Same amount, four cups, but in this case the heat's going down to low and staying on low, I think. I'm going to continuously stir this and make sure my eyes are on it the whole time. I'll also add that controlling the heat is crucial. You'll have to watch it. This process took me right around 25 minutes to get this nice, lightly golden brown color, which I was looking for in the beginning, but decided to push it a little too quickly. Not taking any risks. Nice and golden brown, let's call it. Now, sometimes cooking is well worth it to take the extra time to make sure it's right. So back to the processor we go, and I'm going to pulse it several times while stopping the scrape along the way, and yes, this is what I wanted, also known as carassé. Now, this has a richer coconut flavor, then finishes with a slightly nutty taste from the toasting process. This'll work. I'm going to set it to the side in a bowl, and we're getting closer to cooking, I promise, but first, some onions. Classically, shallots are what's used, but I'm positive a red, white, or yellow onion will do. Once the ends are sliced off and the peelings are removed, we're staying in the food processor, and yes, I rinsed it out first, and just going to pulse this until it becomes very finely minced, and dang it, they got me again. Oh, there it is, right in the jugular, oh my gosh. After I wipe my eyes, I'm going to scrape out all the goodness using a rubber spatula right into a separate bowl. This is definitely one of those recipes that has to have everything meased out before cooking. All right, next up, I'm going to add eight garlic cloves into the emptied out, rinsed out processor, and then we need to prep up some lemongrass. I've got three stalks here, you can pick this up at some grocery stores, and for sure, an Asian market will carry them. Score these from Whole Foods. You want to slice off the ends and then remove some of the outside layers. Then, I'm going to thinly slice them and pop them in the processor along with the garlic. Now, last but not least, I've got about a one and a half inch long piece of ginger, and I'm not going to peel it. Instead, I'm going to rinse it under cold water. Plenty of good flavor in the peeling, just pop it in the processor as well. And after doing more research, it looks like galangal is a super popular ingredient here. Unfortunately, that's really hard to get in Northwest Indiana, but another substitute is just a bit more ginger, a hint of lemon juice, and a crack of black pepper because it has a citrusy, slightly spicy taste to it. The lid goes on and the goal is the same as the shallots. Process until it becomes finely minced, and yes, you'll be stopping and scraping on this one too, but once it's good, it's good. So, in a separate bowl it goes, and now it's time for the heat. And every recipe I've found for this, in its native tongue, uses fresh red peppers. And the best I can get here, and for my spice tolerance level, are Fresnos and Ladyfingers. I actually think dried chilies will work also, but here's a list of Indonesian peppers I can't even pronounce and probably can't even get that would be more classic. However, these will do. Now, I'm going to leave the pith and seeds in only one Fresno, which is equal to a jalapeno. Then, I'm going to seed seven of them, I think. If you love heat, don't seed a thing, and eat at your own caution. Then, I'm seeding two Ladyfinger peppers, which these are three to four times stronger than a jalapeno, and yeah, I hope this doesn't destroy me. Gosh, am I so weak when it comes to spicy food. All right, into the processor to finely mince. A lot of character building. Two, three pulses, and that's it. I either need a smaller kitchen aid, there's got to be an... oh my gosh, easy way to get this. It's gonna be hot. Okay, done. Finally, after quite a few stops and scrapes, get all the peppers out and into a bowl. Now, I know this may seem crazy that I'm puring everything separately, but I've got a plan to help build some deeper flavors into the overall sauce, and I swear, we are so close to getting this show going, but first, we need to hook up the beef. I've got a three-pound chuck roast. This recipe seems to be best with those big cuts loaded with intermuscular fat, or marbling for the old schoolers, that are good for slow cooks like this. I'm going to cut this down into three pieces, then I'm going to slice them into bigger chunks. From there, I want to go against the grain, so I'm going to turn them and slice about a half inch or three quarters inch thick. This should be easier to eat and help reduce a bit of cooking time. If you want to remove some of the fat, feel free, but to me, that's just going to be more flavor. Okay, the prep is done, and I promise it's really not too bad, especially if you don't jack up the coconut like I did. Regardless, it's finished and go time. Bring the sliced beef back over to the cooktop, and for braises, you already know, I'm going to use my Rondo pot. It's just simply the best for these applications. I'm going to add in three to four tablespoons of avocado oil and cranking the heat up to high. I want a good sear on this beef, and once it begins to lightly smoke, I'm going to add in half the sliced beef, and then I want to spread everything out for a better brown on the meat. This is why the Rondo is king for surface area. Then, I'm going to season it up well with coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper. I'm going to let this sit for two to three minutes before flipping. I'm not looking for an internal temperature. I'm looking for the most maillard I can get, and once it looks like this, flip it over and do the same on the other side, and then when it's all browned all around, set it to the side. Let's get to the next batch, and while we're waiting, here's how I actually found out about this recipe. Now, one of my favorite things about going on cruises no matter where is that it brings people from all over, and especially the crew, and I love talking to them. Now, Imam, he was in housekeeping, and he told me this was his favorite dish from back home. I even got this from him. It's time for Rondon. Now, I've been researching this ever since I got off the ship, and I swear I've never heard of this, and I'm trying to apply as much culinary intuition as possible because everything that I watch, I feel like, ah, there was a spot I could pull a little bit more flavor, like with searing the beef, more maillard, more deliciousness. In the end, honestly, I hope I just do this recipe justice, and more importantly, I hope I do Imam and Indonesia proud. No pressure, right? It's just cooking. Keep it light. Keep it fun. The beef is looking great, so I'm going to set it right on the same plate with the other, and then I'm going to turn the heat down to low medium. At this stage, I'm adding in the shallots. I'm going to give them a gentle season with salt, and I plan to cook these for 12 to 15 minutes to start building the foundational flavors of the sauce. Now, my goal here is to stir these every few minutes, but in the meantime, we've got to get on some spices, and believe me, the recipes and research I did was not completely clear because everyone used something a little different, so I'm going to use what I know about Southeast Asian cuisine and spices, but first, let's pull as much flavor from them as I can. In a saute pan, I'm adding in two cardamom pods, one cinnamon stick, three cloves, one tablespoon of cumin seeds, two teaspoons of coriander seeds, a half of a nutmeg, and two star anise, but wait. Candlenuts are a traditional ingredient. Because I couldn't get that, macadamia nuts are going to be a great substitute, so I'm adding five to the pan as well. Let's bring it over to the cooktop, and over low to medium heat, I plan to toast everything up to make them all more aromatic. In return, it should make our rendang more delicious. This will only take three to four minutes while constantly stirring and moving everything around. You'll know they're done when everything becomes very, very fragrant. Next, I'm going to transfer them over to a spice grinder and finally grind everything down, and wouldn't you know it, my grinder dumped out, so I swapped it out. It's been that kind of day so far, just loving the humility I'm learning today. Okay, everything looks good. Let's set the spices to the side and see where our shallots are at, and this is what I wanted, a deep brown, tender, sweet, and loads of smells in here. Now, I'm going to hit it with the garlic lemongrass ginger mixture, and just the same, going to gently season with salt, and I plan to cook this for five to six minutes over low to medium heat. I prefer to gently season complex dishes like this at every step. You end up using less salt, and the dish becomes better seasoned when it's all said and done. It's just good cooking practice. Okay, at this stage, everything is looking great, and the aromas in here are everything. Seriously, so good, but to take a drastic turn, let's fire up those peppers, and yo, it just got a huge nose full. That was spicy. We're going to again gently season with salt and cook this down for six to eight minutes to not only start to meld these flavors together, but also to concentrate everything a bit more. My goal was to layer in flavors, but use good cooking techniques to bring everything up to its potential. Sure hoping I'm on the right path. Okay, at this point, we're starting to get down to some crucial steps, so let's add in all those dry spices, and mix, and continue cooking for just a few minutes. Oh, wow. That smell of that is amazing. Wow. That was like a kiss to the nose, and I'm starting to feel really good about where we're at just from the smells alone. Now, one thing I discovered in my research, when all these spices are together with the peppers, and the lemongrass, and the garlic, and onions, and all those things, it's known as rumpa, which honestly, the best analogy I can give to this is like a sofrito. It's cooking all those things at the beginning as like a base to a lot of other recipes. One thing is for dang certain, it smells ridiculous in here, and a few more things. Three bay leaves, and three lime leaves. Another classic ingredient I could not find is a turmeric leaf, but after researching, I got the okay to just sub in one extra bay leaf, and lime leaf. Give everything a stir. Now, let's add back in the beef, and all its juices, and mix everything together. I just want to bring the heat up on the beef, so I plan to constantly move everything around for just two to three minutes, and it's almost like a paste that's adhering right to the beef at this stage. A lot of recipes just had everything blended, and pretty much boiled together. I'm thinking these simple techniques will be better. I hope. Okay, next, I'm pouring in three 15 ounce cans of full-fat coconut milk. This should help curb some of the spice, and provide a delicious layer of creaminess to the beef. I'm going to fold everything together to combine it all, and then two more things to put in here that I do not want to forget. First, two teaspoons of palm sugar, or light brown sugar, and I'm going to probably add in about a third to a half cup of that ground toasted shredded coconut. I have a feeling this is going to add some really great textures to our rondang. Now, before we send this into its braising journey, I'm going to season it well with coarse salt, and skipping the pepper, because, well, the Fresnos and ladyfingers should be plenty. And, of course, this is going to need to cook down to tenderize the beef, and to concentrate the flavors even more. I can't even imagine how tasty this is about to be. Okay, over low heat, we go for a few hours, and I'm going to come back every 20 to 30 minutes to stir everything to see where we're at. Everything I researched told me that when the fat and the coconut milk starts to separate, that I'm on the right track, and this is looking perfect. And the smells, ah, the smells, I always talk about. But let's go. Well, for a total of about three hours anyways, you don't want to rush this. More time equals more flavor. And be sure to taste along the way, and one last time at the end, and whoa, talk about flavor. And let's check the beef. Yep, tender, just like a pot roast. Perfect. Now, let's finally plate this thing up. But first, this is pretty commonly served up with rice, so let's add that to a plate, and then I'm pouring on a lot of this beef rendang. Now, I couldn't find anything out about a classical garnish, so I'm going to hit it with some more sliced fresh peppers and green onions. All about those colors, at least for me anyways. Now, moment of truth, my friends. It's still just crazy to me that one moment on a cruise could lead to a dish I've never heard of, and possibly my new favorite. Yeah, it is that good. And Emom, if you're out there and you watch this video, would you drop me a comment? I'd love to hear how you're doing, and I hope I did you proud. And if you're looking for more big bowl flavors, my chicken biryani is awesome. I've got a great video. I'll see you over there. Oh man, I mean, immediately. Lemon, garlic, ooh, a little spice. Cream, it's, yeah. It's good, dude. It's super good.