Pork rendang

Enny's rendang with pork shoulder

Made with fresh spices by JJ

Rendang is one of my family's favourite recipes but as I am intolerant to beef we make it with cubes of pork shoulder instead. This recipe is an adaptation of an authentic Padang recipe we got from a close family friend, Enny, who is from that region. In a pinch, we also have used a Munik Kari Kambing bumbu to replace the spices but as those are hard to find too, here is a variation with spices more readily available in Canada. Allow for about 3 hours of cooking time when making it on the stove.

Ingredients

1000 g pork shoulder or beef, large cubes
8 small shallots, chopped, or 1 large yellow onion
2 T coconut oil
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped finely
5 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 inch piece of fresh galangan or laos, chopped finely or 1 large dried piece
5 T of freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 t of dried clove
1 t ground coriander
2 T sambal oelek
3 or 4 lime leaves, chopped finely if fresh or left whole if dried
1 large daun salam leaf
1 stalk of lemon grass, left whole, slightly smashed
3 T of soy sauce
coconut milk, enough to cover the meat, approx. 750 ml

Heat the coconut oil in a heavy casserole pan and sauté the onion or shallots until soft. Then add the spices and stir for about a minute. Next add the cubes of meat. Cover the meat with coconut milk and set the heat so that the coconut milk is lightly simmering. Cook for about 3 hours on low heat, making sure to stir regularly so that it doesn't burn.

Cook until the meat can easily be separated with a spoon and the coconut milk is reduced down. The last crucial step is to wait for the oil to emerge from the meat and coconut milk and to fry the ingredients to a caramelized brown colour. This is known as the kalio stage. The curry will be quite dry at this point so when you have achieved good caramelization add water to increase the amount of coconut gravy around the meat. Serve with white rice and slices of cucumber lightly coated in a few drops of rice vinegar and salt.