Beef Rendang

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Beef Rendang Meat Pies

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Almost every culture in the world has a meat pie and this is another one to add to your delicious repertoire. #BringBackTheClassics

Makes: About 8 party pies

Preparation time: 40 minutes

Cooking time: 4 hours 20 minutes

Level of difficulty: medium

Ingredients

Rendang paste
1 tbs coriander seeds
2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh turmeric
1 generous knob of galangal, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 red eschallots, peeled and halved
3 bird's eye chillis (de-seeded if you prefer a milder heat)
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, coarsely chopped
1/2 stalk of lemongrass, coarsely chopped
2 green shallots (scallions), topped and tailed
1 tsp white mustard seeds
½ cinnamon stick
1 candlenut

The rest
500 g beef oyster blade, chopped into bite sized chunks (beef chuck, lamb neck or shanks also work well)
270 ml tin coconut cream
1 tbs kecap manis

Salt

White pepper

4 sheets short crust pastry

¼ milk for glazing

Crispy chilli oil, or your favourite sauce, to serve

Method

Preheat an oven to 180˚C. Blitz the paste ingredients in the blender or food processor until you achieve a rough paste (add a small amount of water to the paste if it has issues combining). In a heavy based pot on a medium heat, add a slug of olive oil and stir fry the paste for 2-3 minutes, until aromatic. Stir the mixture continuously to prevent it catching on the bottom. Remove the paste from the pot and set aside while you brown the meat. 

Add a little more oil, then in batches, brown the meat on all sides. Once all the meat is browned, return all of the meat to the pot, along with the paste and stir to combine. Add in the coconut cream and ketchup manis and combine well. Bring the curry to a simmer, taste and season with salt and ground white pepper and place the lid on the pot. Place the pot in oven and reduce the temperature to 120˚C for 4 hours.

When the time is up, remove the pot from the oven and check the meat. The meat should be soft enough to break apart with a spoon. When the meat is done, place the pot on the stove on high heat with the lid on for 15-20 minutes to reduce the sauce and thicken the texture. Once thickened, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, then set aside to cool. Refrigerate overnight if possible.

When you’re ready to make your pies, preheat the oven to 200˚C. Thaw the pastry and cut it to fit the base and sides of your pie moulds. For party pies, a deep muffin tray works well. Fill each pastry case with the rendang and top with a pastry lid. Use a fork to crimp the edges to seal, then glaze with milk. Cook for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden. Set aside to cool slightly, then serve.

Note

Make the rendang a day ahead and refrigerate it…it’ll be easier to work with while slightly cold, and next day stews always taste better!

SBS cook’s notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55–60 g, unless specified.

 Photography, styling and food preparation by Melissa Leong

Feeling nostalgic? We want you! For the month of November, SBS Food is asking food lovers far and wide to get creative by putting a multicultural twist or your creative spin on an Australian classic... Welcome to #BringBackTheClassics - enter now!

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Mum's Beef Rendang

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Everyone has at least a couple of comfort food dishes that will, without fail make you feel better when you're sad, sick or just needing the gastronomic equivalent of a hug. Many of mine are deeply connected to my family's Singaporean roots, and include things like pork and century egg congee (with plenty of crunchy, fried wonton chips on top), pork and prawn wontons...and my mum's aromatic, spice-laden, fork-tender beef rendang. 

Beef Rendang mise en place

When I moved out of home during my university days, this recipe became a much called on heirloom for when I was homesick. Despite being a very basic cook at the time, I learned that 1. Making curry paste is a lot easier than you'd think to make. 2. Fresh curry paste tastes SO MUCH better than store bought (though there is no shame in using a good one in a pinch).

Equipment-wise, you will need:
1. A blender/food processor
2. A heavy based, oven friendlysaucepan with a tight fitting lid (a cast-iron pot like a La Creuset is perfect)
 
 

 

Serves 4, or more if it’s part of a feast!

Ingredients
Paste
1 tbs coriander seeds
2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh turmeric, peeled
1 generous knob of galangal, coarsely chopped
2 red eschallots, peeled and halved
6-7 bird's eye chillis (go according to your heat preference)
2 thumb-sized knobs of ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 stalk of lemongrass, coarsely chopped
2-3 green shallots (scallions), trimmed and coarsely chopped
1 tsp white mustard seeds
1 cinnamon stick

1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 candlenut

The rest
1kg beef brisket (this is an adaptation of mine, mum would use oyster blade, chopped into chunks. You can also use beef chuck, lamb neck or shanks)
400ml tin coconut cream
2 tbs kecap manis

Brown sugar

Sea salt
3-4 waxy potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks
                                                                                                                                         
To serve
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 kaffir lime leaf, very finely sliced (chiffonade, like this)
4-6 Brussels sprouts, finely shaved using a mandoline
Olive oil
Sea salt flakes
Fried shallots (they come in jars in the Asian aisle at the supermarket, or any Asian grocer)
Coconut rice


Method
Preheat the oven to the highest it will go. Blitz the paste ingredients in the blender until you achieve a paste. Add a few slugs of vegetable oil to the paste if it has issues combining. Place the meat onto a rack over a tray, and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes to seal. This is a neat way to sear meat when you’re braising a whole piece.

While the meat is searing, on a heavy based pot on a medium to high heat, add a generous slug of olive oil and stir fry the paste for 7-10 minutes, until aromatic and heavily caramelised. Continuously stir the paste, and keep scraping the caramelised bits off the bottom and incorporating it back into the paste. Add in the coconut cream and ketchup manis and combine well. Bring the curry to a simmer, then season with salt, ground white pepper and brown (or palm) sugar, to taste.

Transfer the beef to a deep oven dish, or an oven-friendly pot with a lid, like a French oven. Pour over the curry, cover and cook at 120c for 4-6 hours, or until the meat is starting to fall apart. In the last hour, add the potatoes, or any other veg you might want to throw in (I had eggplant in the fridge, so that's what’s featured here).

When it’s done, the meat should be soft enough to break apart with a spoon. If the meat is still a bit tough, place back in the oven for another half hour until tender. This is a saucier style of rendang, but feel free to decant the curry sauce and reduce it over the stove until thickened to your preference.

This is traditionally served at our house with coconut rice and maybe a squeeze of lime and topped with fried shallots, but this is your recipe now, so feel free to make it your own. This one features finely sliced Brussels sprouts and brown rice (don’t tell my mum).