Slow-Cooked Beef Rendang for 1 kg of Beef
Follow beef rendang as it cooks from gulai to kalio, then turns dark and nearly dry after slow cooking.
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This video was made with the help of AI (visuals & voice).
Rendang takes time, and this Queen Kitchen recipe shows the dish changing as it cooks. One kilogram of beef is simmered slowly for about four hours, moving from a coconut-milk curry to a thick kalio and finally to dark, nearly dry rendang.
The stages offer clear signs to watch for as you cook: the sauce reduces, coconut oil begins to surface, and the spices grow darker and drier. Keep the heat low, give the mixture time, and stir more often as it approaches the final stage.
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef (cut into ±5 cm pieces, against the grain)
- Thick coconut milk from 4 coconuts (±1.5 liters)
- Salt to taste
Spice paste:
- 1/4 kg red chilies
- 1/4 kg shallots
- 1.5 ons garlic
- 1 ons ginger
- 2 ons galangal
- Turmeric to taste
Toasted spices (then ground):
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1 nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 2 star anise
- 5 cardamom pods
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 3 cm cinnamon
Aromatics:
- 2 turmeric leaves (tied in a knot)
- 2 lemongrass stalks (bruised)
- 5 kaffir lime leaves
- 3 Indonesian bay leaves
How to Make It
- Toast the spices. Toast the dry spices until fragrant, then grind them. The aroma is the cue given in the video for this step.
- Blend the spice paste. Blend the red chilies, shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, and turmeric until completely smooth.
- Bring the coconut milk to a boil. Pour the coconut milk into a pan. Add the spice paste, ground toasted spices, aromatics, and salt. Keep stirring until it boils to help prevent the coconut milk from splitting.
- Add the beef. Once the coconut milk boils, add the beef. This is the gulai stage.
- Lower the heat. Continue cooking over low heat. The video’s key reminder is to keep the heat low and be patient.
- Cook to the kalio stage. After about 2 hours, the sauce reduces and thickens. This marks the kalio stage.
- Keep cooking as the oil appears. After about 3 hours, oil from the coconut milk begins to come out. Stir more often to prevent the mixture from burning.
- Finish the rendang. After about 4 hours, the spices are nearly dry and have turned dark brown-black. This is the rendang stage.
- Serve. Serve with warm rice. The video description says dry rendang can keep for days.
Why This Recipe Works
This recipe makes the long cooking process easy to follow by naming each stage and describing what changes in the pan. The sauce first reduces and thickens into kalio. Later, coconut oil begins to surface, and the spices gradually become nearly dry and dark. Those visible changes give you more to look for than cooking time alone.
The listed ingredients are measured for 1 kg of beef, and the method focuses on a low flame and regular stirring. The description does not call for any special equipment. The main commitment is time: the rendang cooks slowly, and the cook needs to pay attention when the coconut milk first comes to a boil and stir more often as the oil appears.
The serving suggestion is straightforward and comes directly from the video: serve the rendang with warm rice. The description also notes that dry rendang can keep for days. Queen Kitchen says the ingredient measurements appear on screen at each stage, so viewers can follow the cooking process alongside the changes in the pan.
To see the complete cooking process and on-screen measurements, watch the full Queen Kitchen video. You can also subscribe to the Queen Kitchen YouTube channel for more home recipes and follow Queen Kitchen on Facebook.
