I visited Sabah while on a press trip hosted by Sabah Tourism and Royal Brunei Airlines but as always, my thoughts remain my own. This post may contain affiliate links and if you make a purchase using these links, I'll receive a small commission fee at no extra cost to you.
Packed with flaky, fall-apart beef cooked in creamy coconut milk with fragrant lemongrass, kaffir lime, galangal, ginger and a myriad of spices, this traditional Malaysian slow cooker beef rendang can be left to bubble away in the kitchen while you get on with your day!
Contents
Beef rendang: an introduction
Perhaps one of the most popular beef dishes in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, traditional beef rendang is a fragrant concoction of fresh lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, ginger and chilli cooked in coconut milk with a variety of spices and a slow-cooking cut of beef like chuck steak or shin. Occasionally, lamb or chicken may be used instead.
The origins of beef rendang lie in west Sumatra, Indonesia, where the Minang ethnic tribe cook this coconut-infused stew to welcome visitors and mark ceremonial occasions like Hari Raya (the Muslim festival of Eid).
While most curries consist of chunks of meat and/or veg swimming in sauce, beef rendang is a dry, somewhat stodgy curry. As the spicy sauce reduces and browns in colour, it transforms into a thick, flavoursome paste which embraces each tender chunk of beef. As the slow-cooked meat falls apart into tender flakes, this pungent paste clings to each shred and eventually becomes dotted throughout the rice.
This isn’t the quickest dish to prepare and you’ll probably need to put some legwork in to hunt down some of the Asian ingredients. Try your local Asian supermarkets if you don’t have any joy at the supermarket. Time and ingredients aside, however, beef rendang is fairly easy to prepare. Although it takes longer to cook the beef in a slow cooker as opposed to on the hob, this method enables you to simply leave the rendang bubbling away in the kitchen while you get on with your day.
If you haven’t got a slow cooker, you can follow this recipe in a large heavy-based pan with a lid on the hob, but reduce the cooking time to around 2-3 hours. You might need to add a little water (as slow cooking uses less liquid) and you’ll need to spend more time slaving over the stove to stir the pot occasionally as the stew simmers away. However, the advantage of cooking beef rendang on the hob is that you don’t have to bother with transferring the mixture to and from the slow-cooker to brown off the meat and reduce the sauce.
However, I highly recommend investing in a slow cooker as they’re extremely affordable and safe to use and there’s nothing better than arriving home to a hot, home-cooked meal with minimal effort at the end of a long, tiring day. I absolutely love my 3.5-litre retro Swan slow cooker, which has three heat settings and a removable ceramic pot. At the moment, it’s selling for less than £30 on Amazon, so it’s a great investment for your kitchen.
While there are many variations on beef rendang, with most families tweaking the recipe to suit their own tastes, this particular version was kindly shared with me by Head Chef, Teddy Ibau at Sukau Rainforest Lodge in Sabah, Malaysia – one of the National Geographic’s highly-acclaimed Unique Lodges of the World.
I stayed at Sukau Rainforest Lodge while on a press trip with Sabah Tourism and Royal Brunei Airlines. Expect more blog posts about my time in Sabah over the next few weeks but in the meantime, as we’re all stuck at home on lockdown, I thought this would be the perfect time to share Teddy’s beef rendang recipe with you!
Teddy began working at Sukau Rainforest Lodge in 2018 with over a decade of culinary experience under his belt, including a stint as Executive Chef at World Trade Hotel, Shanxi and various roles at five-star hotels including Shangri La in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu.
How to make beef rendang in a slow cooker
Looking at the long list of ingredients required and the method involved in making beef rendang, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the prospect of preparing this exotic dish ‘from scratch’ yourself at home.
Once you’ve prepared the ingredients and broken the method down into simple, easy-to-follow steps, however, it’s actually quite difficult to go wrong with beef rendang. What’s more, by preparing it in the slow cooker, you’re eliminating the need to stand over the hot stove for hours on end stirring the pot, freeing yourself up to get on with your day while the rendang bubbles away in the slow cooker.
Step-by-step guide
- Prep the spice paste by blitzing all the ingredients together in a food processor or blender.
- Cook the spice paste over a medium flame for around five minutes, toasting the spices to impart flavour. Once finished, the paste will have darkened slightly in colour.
- Next, add the raw meat to the pot and cook it for a further five minutes, stirring regularly until browned all over.
- Remove the pot from the heat and transfer the meat and spice mixture, plus all the other curry ingredients, into your slow cooker. Place on ‘auto’ or ‘high’ (refer to the full recipe below for further details) and cook for around six hours, stirring very occasionally.
- Transfer the contents of the slow cooker back into the pot and cook over a medium flame for around 30 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and the meat has browned in the excess oil.
- Allow the beef rendang to cool slightly (it’ll be piping hot when it comes out of the slow cooker!) and serve with sticky coconut-infused Jasmine rice.
One of the things I love about cooking beef rendang is witnessing the marvellous transformation in the colour of the sauce during the cooking process, right through from pale, creamy beige to deep, reddish-brown. This change in colour is a by-product of the sauce reduction process. As the sauce bubbles away, the oil separates and the beef browns off in it until the flaky, fall-apart meaty chunks become coated in a stodgy paste.
What to serve with slow cooker beef rendang
As beef rendang is traditionally a dry curry, it pairs well with rice but as it doesn’t have much sauce, it’s not the kind of curry you’d mop up with a chapati or naan bread. In Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, the dish is usually served with sticky jasmine rice, rice cooked with coconut milk, almondy pandan leaves and spices, or vibrant turmeric rice.
With no pandan leaves to hand, I teamed my slow cooker beef rendang with basmati rice cooked in coconut milk with kaffir lime leaves, dusted with dessicated coconut and topped with fresh coriander and a juicy lime wedge to serve. If you like, you could even prepare an Asian-inspired salad to accompany your beef rendang and coconut rice; this rainbow vermicelli salad with soy certainly gets my vote!
Alternatively, if you’re looking for a lighter accompaniment, consider some stir-fried greens with Malaysian kecap manis (thick soy sauce), garlic and chilli or a fresh, crunchy salad. I love the look of this cucumber and peanut salad I just stumbled across while browsing for inspiration.
Just looking at @TheRareWelshBit's slow-cooker Malaysian Beef Rendang is making me drool! Definitely need to make this sometime! #malaysianfood #slowcookerrecipesHow to store beef rendang
In the unlikely event that your family don’t end up polishing off your beef rendang in one sitting, store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for two to three days or pop it in the freezer for up to around three months.
Slow Cooker Beef Rendang
Equipment
Ingredients
For the spice paste
- 10 fresh red chillies, finely sliced (with extra for garnishing)
- 1 medium onion or 3-4 large shallots finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped or minced
- 2 lemongrass stalks
- 1.5" fresh galangal peeled and chopped
- 1.5" fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped or minced
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
For the curry
- 1 kg slow-cooking beef (chuck steak or shin works particularly well) diced into 1.5" cubes
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 cloves
- 2 star anise
- 4 cardamom pods seeds only
- 1 fresh lemongrass bottom-half only, bashed
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 2 tsp tamarind puree, paste or pulp soaked in hot water, seeds removed
- 4-6 kaffir lime leaves (dependent on size) finely shredded (with extra for garnishing)
- 5 tbsp dessicated coconut
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Transfer the spice paste ingredients to a food processor or blender and combine until finely chopped.
- Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large, heavy pot over a low-to-medium heat and cook the spice paste for five minutes or so, allowing the spices to 'bloom'; once complete, the paste should darken in colour slightly.
- Increase the heat slightly and add the cubed beef to the pan. Cook for a further five minutes or so, until browned.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the beef and spice paste to the slow cooker along with the remaining curry ingredients, stirring to combine. You might want to add a little water too, but be mindful that you don't need to use as much liquid when cooking in a slow-cooker. Set the temperature on the slow cooker to auto or high, pop the lid on and allow to bubble away for six hours. It's best to cook red meat on high when using a slow cooker but you'll probably need to give it an occasional stir so if you'll be leaving the house, consider switching to auto.
- Once six hours has passed, the meat should be incredibly tender, yet not quite at that 'fall apart' stage yet. Turn off the slow cooker and carefully pour the contents back into the large pan we used earlier on. Simmer over a medium flame for around half an hour, until the sauce has reduced to a thick paste and the meat falls apart at the touch of a fork. If necessary, keep adding more water and reducing down until the meat is to your desired tenderness.
Notes
- While beef rendang is a fairly spicy curry, the heat isn’t too over-powering as the slow cooking process tempers the spices. However, if you’d prefer a milder curry, remove the seeds from the chillies or use less chillies.
- If fresh galangal or lemongrass aren’t available, substitute with 1 tbsp each of paste. Galangal is tricker to find so if you can’t get any, use extra ginger instead.
- When dicing the beef into cubes, aim for fairly large chunks; they’ll reduce in size considerable during cooking and eventually they’ll be literally falling apart, so you don’t want them to be so small that they end up reducing to nothing.
- Beef rendang can also be cooked on the hob in a large, heavy-based pot. Simply reduce the cooking time to around 2-3 hours and be mindful that you’ll need to hang around in the kitchen to stir the pot regularly.
Nutrition
Have you ever made slow cooker beef rendang or are there any other dishes you enjoy preparing in a slow cooker? Share your thoughts with other readers in the comment box below.
Looking for recipe inspiration? Check out these other dishes before you head off:
- Vegetarian Chilli
- Puerto Rican Empanadas
- Indian Masala Chai Tea
- Bacon and Asparagus Tart
- Greek Spetzofai
- Venison Sausage Rolls
I visited Sabah while on a press trip hosted by Sabah Tourism and Royal Brunei Airlines but as always, my thoughts remain my own. This post may contain affiliate links and if you make a purchase using these links, I'll receive a small commission fee at no extra cost to you.
I need to use the word stodgy more, it’s such a great term. And this beef rendang looks so delicious! Your instructions are so clear
Hehe, I love the word too. Thank you! Glad you like the look of the recipe and found the instructions helpful.
I’ve only had beef rendang once and I loved it. This looks delicious!
I’ve had it a few times but I’ve never attempted to make my own. Regretting it now as it’s so delicious and it was quite easy too.
I’ve never had anything like this but it sounds so flavorful and delicious.
Maybe you should try out my recipe; I am sure you will fall in love with rendang! 😀
Sounds like such an awesome trip! Love that this beef in made in the slow cooker!
You could say that 🙂 This was actually my first time using a slow cooker. I am so pleased with the result!
I don’t think I’ve ever had rendang before. I wonder if it’s a popular dish in my area because I don’t think I’ve even seen it on most menus. Thankfully, I have this recipe so I can finally taste it.
It’s a popular dish in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore but to be fair I don’t see it on restaurant menus often – unless it’s a Malaysian restaurant, of course.
That is so good!! Packed full of amazing flavors!
It was lovely – I love spicy food but you could always adjust the spice level if it’s too overpowering or if you like it extra fiery!
Lovely recipe full of spices. We have them all in our pantry, it is just so nice to cook with them, it makes the dish tastes amazing.
Thanks Laura. I love a curry loaded with spices too! Rendang is divine.
Looks absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to make this for the family.
Hope they enjoy it. I’d love to know how it turns out!
I can only imagine how this tastes with all those amazing spices and flavors. I keep seeing recipes with galangal in them, so interesting. I need to find some.
I couldn’t find fresh galangal at the moment but I did manage to get the paste in the supermarket. It’s a lovely dish!
This looks good. I’ve previously made rendang in the slow cooker but this recipe is a way of passing yet another day at home during the coronavirus lockdown. Thanks
Thanks Stuart. I am sure I will be using my slow cooker very often during this lockdown – it’s so handy!
On the menu for next week, this will cook perfectly in the bottom oven of an Aga
How lovely. I would love to have an Aga. Let me know how it goes 🙂
You definitely had me at lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and coconut. All of the ingredients, really. SE Asia in one delicious dish!
Yay! I love a good rendang. Such an aromatic curry!
I love, love, love beef rendang and truly the freshly made spice gives it much flavor! I need a huge bowl of rice with this!!!
Same! I can’t wait to polish off some more of the leftovers from this later.
I’ve never heard of rendang before but this sounds so flavorful with the coconut milk and all those herbs and spices!
It’s such a fragrant curry – I will be making this lots in the future!
I could almost smell the delicious fragrances of the lemongrass and the kaffir lime coming off the screen! The beef looks so tender!
Good to hear it Jacqui 🙂 My kitchen smelled wonderful while I was cooking this. I just took some out of the freezer to have for dinner later actually – can’t wait!
I am not really a fun of eating beef but seeing this dish makes my mouthwatering and I am sure that this one is a flavorful and delicious dish to make for the family.
I don’t eat beef often but I love it when it’s slow-cooked like this – or roasted but still pink and served on a traditional British roast dinner – mmm!
This looks so good! I love slow cooking beef or other things in the slow cooker!
I think I’ll be using my slow cooker very often! It’s absolutely amazing 🙂
I’ve just ordered the ingredients for my next grocery delivery. If it tastes half as good as the one we had in Borneo I’ll be very happy!
Yay, great to hear that Suzanne – don’t forget to send me a pic of the end result! 😀
I had beef rendang for the first time this year in Bali and it looks a little different than this recipe but was amazing. I can’t wait to try your recipe out. It looks great!
I would love to try an authentic Indonesian rendang – that must’ve been a real treat!
Wow this recipe looks so flavourful!! I love all the ingredients and will definitely have to give this one a go! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Joyce, hope you love it as much as I do 😀
OH my! The flavors in this are so good. What a great recipe that’s perfect for making beef rendang!
Thank you Julie. It is such a great curry, I’ll certainly be making it again very soon.
Wow, your post took me on a culinary journey. Thanks for the recipe. Asian food is always my favorite.
Good to hear it Sophie 🙂
I love coconut milk in my curry. I loved the flavors in this Beef Rendang. I’m sure it’s so delicious.
Me too – it always tastes so aromatic!
I made this for our lockdown Saturday treat – absolutely delicious. I’ll definitely be making this again 🙂
So glad to hear that you made it and enjoyed it 🙂 Thank you for trying out my recipe!
Being veggie not a dish I’d eat, but sounds like it would be flavourful.
I just found a Quorn rendang which looks rather interesting!
https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/quorn-rendang-curry-recipe
Oh wow this looks delicious and all the colours are so rainbow like. I’m veggie but I recently made a similar veggie Rendang noodle soup!
Loving the sound of that!!!
Not a dish I would eat as I am vegan, but my husband and kids would love this! Slow cooked food is my kind of cooking too! Do love a bit of one pot cooking!
I found a lovely-looking quorn rendang yesterday! Here it is: https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/quorn-rendang-curry-recipe
Hey, could i add more liquid to make it less dry? or will it ruin the flavours?
Hi Becky,
It’s meant to be a dry curry, so I haven’t experimented with making the sauce runnier myself; I suspect it would affect the intensity of the flavour. You could try using less liquid or reducing the cooking time to the sauce doesn’t reduce down quite as much. Please let me know how you get on if you decide to give it a go 🙂
Kacie
Made this today and it was a success! My husband loved it! Thanks!
Aww thank you, so glad you both enjoyed it and it means a lot that you took the time to leave a comment 🙂
It was very good, but I think I put too much tamarind in there so that sour flavour became overpowering.
Also think it needs less salt, but I guess that’s to taste.
Anyway, thanks for writing a clear and easy to follow recipe.
Thank you for trying my recipe, I’m glad you like it. Maybe you added a little too much tamarind. I will be making this again soon will have to assess the salt letvel again, thanks for the heads-up! 🙂
Made this dish and had it with the cucumber and peanut side. The flavours and textures complimented each other beautifully.
Thanks for trying out my recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I have all my ingredients ready to go and I cannot WAIT to get this in my belly! Do you think I could cook it the day before ready for the next day? This will be my first time using a slow cooker too so not sure on the best way to reheat it the next day? x
Hi Melanie,
Great to hear it! 🙂
Yes, you could certainly reheat it after cooking, I do that often.
Let me know how it goes 🙂
Hi,
The calorie information… im guessing that’s per serving? And is that including rice or is it for the curry alone?
Thanks,
Hi Nadine,
Sure, the calorie information is per serving and this is for the curry alone. Hope this helps! 🙂
Kacie
Hubby absolutely LOVES curry – but I’ve never made beef rendang before. He’s in for a treat!!!!!
I love beef rendang! I’m going to make this again soon. It’s delicious!
This looks amazing, will have to give it a try
Good to hear it! 🙂
I love beef rendang but haven’t made it for such a long time – It’s definitely something I need to make again. I love the sound of your recipe and it’s great that it’s for the slow cooker.
Thanks Corina! I love this recipe! I’m making a mental note to make it again soon.
This looks super delicious and any recipe with coconut and lemon flavour wins me over easily! Thank you for sharing such a colourful background to this recipe, it looks like an amazing place to visit.
Thanks Magdalena! I love this beef rendang recipe, it brings back fond memories of my trip to Malaysia!
This looks absolutely delicious.
Thanks. I love it!
Great curry. Super easy and great taste. I changed a couple of things though, i used coconut cream instead of milk I found it creamier that way and i like it like that, also I only used 1 lemon grass stalk I found the lemon grass a bit over powering the first time i cooked it.
Thank you Alice! I love this recipe too. It’s all about what tastes best to you; there must be so many Rendang recipes out there! I’ll have to try this again with coconut cream and less lemongrass and see what it’s like.
I don’t think I have tried this before, but it sounds amazing and I love slow cooked beef, so will love trying this recipe
I love a good beef rendang, but I do find that the way it’s served seems to differ quite widely; it’s intended to be a dry dish, but some UK restaurants tend to prepare it in the style of a curry.
Made this for my teenage sons, put some into a hollowed our pumpkin and baked it all in the oven (my youngest desperately wanted to eat a stuffed pumpkin and I thought this recipe might work!). Served it all with basmati. Absolute hit – thank you so much! Will definitely cook this again.
Aww that’s great to hear, Tracy! Love the idea of serving it in a pumpkin for autumn. Glad you enjoyed 😀