Beef rendang
My mother's, written down for the first time
Eighth version
Start your own line from any of Ibu's 8 versions. Their recipe becomes your v1; what you do from there is yours, and their name stays on it. Reading needs no account; making it yours does.
v8 · 28 Aug — Salt down to 16
The changes in v8
Salt down to 16
Close to the best
Close to their best. Worth keeping.
What v8 taught
“A gram too far. 17 is the number.”
So far
Eight versions since January 2025. The best yet is v6. Last cooked 6 weeks ago.
Ingredients
beef shin, 4cm dice
coconut milk
kerisik, pounded fine
shallots
galangal
lemongrass
dried chillies
salt
What's been moving
Both halves have moved: the salt most among the ingredients, and steps 2, 3 and 5 in the method.
Never touched: 800ml coconut milk · 12 shallots · 60g galangal · 4 sticks lemongrass · 15 dried chillies
Method
01
Pound the 12 shallots, 60g galangal, 4 lemongrass and 15 chillies coarse, not smooth — 15 minutes in the mortar
15 min12 shallots60g galangal4 sticks lemongrass15 dried chillies
02
Fry the paste in oil over medium heat for 12 minutes, until it darkens and the oil splits at the edges. No less than twelve.
12 min
03
Add the 1.2kg beef shin and turn it until every piece is coated, before any liquid goes in
1.2kg beef shin, 4cm dice
04
Pour in the 800ml coconut milk, bring it barely to a tremble, then the lowest heat for 3 hours, stirring every 20 minutes
3 h800ml coconut milk
05
Stir in the 90g kerisik and the 16g salt, and give it another 20 minutes
20 min90g kerisik, pounded fine16g salt
06
Reduce uncovered 40 minutes until dark, almost dry, and the oil splits again
40 min
How it runs
4h 32on the table
- 4:32On the table
What it's taught its cook
Salt, grams
The last 3 salt readings sat within 1 gram of each other. The 3 before that wandered by 2 grams.
