This is a slightly modified version — with my own cooking notes incorporated into the recipe — of James Oseland’s Beef Rendang recipe shared on Saveur from his book Cradle of Flavor (W.W. Norton, 2006).

Ingredients
- 3 tbsp cooking oil such as safflower oil
- 5 whole cloves
- 1 whole nutmeg, crushed into a few pieces using a mortar and pestle
- 6 red Thai hot chiles, stemmed and coarsely sliced
- 6 shallots, cut in half and then into small chunks
- 5 macadamia nuts, cut in halves
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in halves
- 3/4 to 1 oz (approx 2″ piece) fresh turmeric, peeled cut into small chunks
- 3/4 to 1 oz (approx 2″ piece) ginger, peeled and cut into small chunks
- 3/4 to 1 oz (approx 2″ piece) galangal, peeled cut into small chunks
- 2 lb. boneless beef chuck cut into 2″ pieces
- 7 fresh or frozen Kaffir lime leaves, plus 4 leaves very thinly sliced for garnish
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- Note: there is no substitute for Kaffir lime leaves. They have a sweet lime smell and function similar to bay leaves. If you cannot find them, skip altogether.
- 3 lemongrass stalks, top end trimmed and coarse outer layer removed, then lightly smashed with a mallet and tied into knots
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- One 13.5 oz can Chaokoh coconut milk, with water to bring total yield to 2.5 cups
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- Chaokoh is a very thick coconut milk, so instead of two cans I used just one 13.5 oz. It is slightly less than 2 full cups. I scraped all the coconut milk out of the can and then rinsed with a bit of water to get the rest out and reach a 2-1/2 cup yield.
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt to start, then more to taste
- 1 tbsp Bob’s Red Mill coconut palm sugar
Directions
- Pulse cloves and nutmeg in a spice grinder for 20-30 seconds.
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- I use an old $20 Krups coffee grinder that’s been re-purposed for spices. Clean by grinding a small handful of white rice between each use, wipe clean.
- To a food processer, add the ground spices, chiles, shallots, nuts, garlic, turmeric, ginger, and galangal. Process until a smooth paste forms, about 2 minutes total, scraping the sides of the bowl every 20 seconds or so.
- Set a dutch oven with the cooking oil over medium heat. Add the beef chunks and the paste from the food processer. Stir to distribute the paste and turn the beef over.
- Add 7 whole lime leaves, lemongrass knots, cinnamon sticks, coconut milk, and salt. Stir and bring to a simmer.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, about 1-1/2 hours. If the coconut milk is reducing too quickly, cover.
- After 1-1/2 hours, remove the lid if you had used it, and continue to cook for another 2-1/2 hours, stirring frequently to prevent burning, adding the lid back if reducing too quickly, until sauce and beef turn a dark caramel color and the sauce coats the beef.
- With 45 minutes left, prepare Jasmine or Basmati rice in a rice cooker. Add 1 tbsp palm sugar to the curry and stir.
- When ready to serve, remove & discard the lime leaves, lemongrass, and cinnamon sticks.
- Serve with rice and top with very thinly sliced lime leaves.
Process Photos





