Beef Rendang: The Slow Curry That Outlasts the Day
Beef Rendang: The Slow Curry That Outlasts the Day Photo: RecipeTin Eats Some curries are ready in twenty minutes. Rendang is not one of them — and that is exactly the point. Beef rendang is a slow, dry curry from the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra that found a second home in Malaysia, where it is now one of the country's most loved dishes. Chunks of beef simmer for hours in coconut milk with lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, chillies and toasted coconut, until the sauce has all but disappeared and what is left is a dark, fragrant paste clinging to meat so tender it falls apart at a touch. It is rich, warmly spiced rather than fiercely hot, and it tastes even better the next day. If you make one Malaysian curry at home, make this one — just give it the time it asks for. From Sumatra to Malaysia Rendang began with the Minangkabau of the West Sumatran highlands, a people famous for travelling far for trade and work — a tradition called merantau. A dish that could survive a ...