Dinner Club - Rendang

Jennie gave me access to post our Dinner Club meals here a long time ago, but I just remembered about it. Luckily, we just had a Dinner Club, so here's my first posting. This is not an Everday Good Eat - Dinner Club meals are usually time-consuming and labor intensive, which is why we team up for cooking. But they are always delicious and fun, and ususally from a particular country or region of the world! Karen and I decided to try to make Rendang, a Singaporean coconut beef stew. Spicy, too!

We tripled the recipe below, which fed 11 with leftovers (we were told this tastes better the next day or the next week, even!). I'll write the recipe as it is in my friend, Weelit's, recipe book and put our substitutions next to it.

570 g (20 oz.) coconut, white WE USED FROZEN, SHREDDED

605 g (21 oz.) beef brisket or topside WE USED TOP ROUND

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp msg WE DIDN'T USE THIS;INSTEAD ADDED EXTRA TAMARIND PASTE

2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp tamarind, remove seeds WE USED PASTE

10 shallots UH, REALLY? WE USED 3 LARGE ONES

6 fresh red chillies WE COULD ONLY FIND THAI CHILLIES

14 dried chillies WE GOT SCARED, SO ONLY USED ABOUT 5, AND SHOOK OUT ANY LOOSE SEEDS

30 g (1 oz) ginger

1 stalk lemon grass

2 thin slices galangal

2 cloves garlic

2 tblsp fried coconut

1-1 1/2 tsp palm sugar WE JUST USED REGULAR SUGAR

1 level tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp msg YOU CAN ADD A BIT EXTRA SALT IF DESIRED

2 tsp dark soya sauce WE ASSUMED THIS WAS SOY SAUCE

2 tblsp oil WE NEVER USED THIS...I WONDER WHERE IT'S SUPPOSED TO GO?

170-225 ml (6-8 fl oz.) boiling water

THE RECIPE CALLS FOR FRESH COCONUT AND GETTING THE MILK FROM THE MEAT, BUT WE JUST BOUGHT 2 CANS OF COCONUT MILK.

Dry-fry 115 g of the cocnut till dark brown. Cool. (You'll need an extra 2 tblsp later. We forgot it and just added it fresh. I think it was ok).

Season beef with first 4 ingredients and coconut and leave for 2 hours.

Grind the third set of ingredients (from shallots to 2 tblsp coconut) to a fine paste. A food processor is VERY useful at this point. I have no idea how else it could have ever been done!

Squeeze remaining coconut for milk and set aside. Set aside. Add 225 ml water and squeeze for more milk. Set aside. (WE TOTALLY SKIPPED THIS)

Combine the rest of the ingredients, except the oil and water, in a large saucepan. Add watery milk and bring to a boil. Add meat and boil, uncovered, over moderately high heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

Add coconut milk and stir well. Reduce heat, cover pan and cook for 3/4 - 1 hour til gravy mixture turns oily and fragrant.

WE ADDED THE MILK ALL AT ONCE, AND IT WAS THICK, NOT WATERY. IF WE DID IT AGAIN, I'D ADD ONE CAN THICK MILK AND ONE CAN COCONUT WATER, LATER.

We also didn't add all of the paste mixture, because we were afraid it would be too spicy. But we kept it and think it will make a great starter for a chicken dish or something. Smells sooo good!

Dinner was the Rendang served over rice, a jicama and papaya salad and broiled gailan (chinese broccoli) with oyster sauce. If you're looking for a challenge, this one was delicious!