Madam Woo Beef Rendang

A dry curry with mouth-wateringly tender beef and explosive flavours. This stunning recipe uses the sambal paste made from scratch that's also used in the Madam Woo Sambal Prawn recipe. Sambal is a popular condiment in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore — a spicy mix of chili, dried spices and aromatics.

A note from The Wine List's food editor Laura Faire: This is a great recipe to arm yourself with before heading off to your local Asian specialty store. I find most of these ingredients keep well, either in a darkened spice drawer or even the freezer.

I have left the measurements as supplied by the chef; a little common sense can be used at home, though — a pinch of salt would suffice for 1 gram (1 teaspoon of salt is 4 grams).

Beef Rendang

• 1 cinnamon quill
• 2 cloves
• 1 cardamom pod, crushed
• 1 star anise
• 25ml canola oil
• 500g beef chuck, diced 5cm
• 65g sambal basic (see below)
• 17g lemongrass, frozen, bruised
• 60ml coconut cream (¼ cup)
• 2g salt
• 1g kaffir lime leaves, julienned
• 10g dark palm sugar
• 15g ginger garlic paste (blend equal quantities)

Method

1. Toast all the spices.
2. Crush the lemongrass.
3. Heat the oil and fry the ginger garlic paste; once well fried, add the sambal, the spices and lemongrass. Reduce the sambal to a thick consistency.
4. Add the coconut cream. Bring to the boil, then add the diced beef, palm sugar and salt.
5. Cover with a lid and cook on very low heat.
6. Cook until the meat is tender and the sauce thick and almost splitting — between 1.5 and 2 hours.
7. To serve, garnish with toasted coconut and coriander.

Chili Sambal

• 90g shallot, peeled
• 15g garlic cloves
• 50g cooked dried chili* (see below)
• 15g candlenut* (see here), or use macadamia or cashew
• 100ml canola oil
• 20g caster sugar
• 4g salt

How to cook dried chili: Add the dried chili to a pot of boiling water and simmer for ½ hour. Strain into a colander and keep in the container.

Method:

1. Cut the shallot into small pieces, then blend the shallot, garlic, cooked dried chili and candlenut to a smooth paste.
2. In a thick-based pot, heat the oil on medium-low and sauté the raw chili paste in small batches, stirring constantly so it doesn't stick. Continue to cook until the paste is no longer bitter.
3. Add the sugar and salt to caramelise the paste; continue until it becomes dark red and the oil splits.
4. Leave to cool before storing the sambal in a clean, dry container.

The Pairing

Madam Woo owner Fleur Caulton matches the Beef Rendang with Codice Tempranillo — savoury and supple, it meets the spice without fighting it. See more Madam Woo wine matches.