I recently read The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng. It is a fictionalized version of Somerset Maugham's visit to Malaysia and the Malacca Straits (called the China Straits in the book) and the couple who hosted him. I then read an article about the author who was asked about his favorite Malaysian food. And since the title of the post gives it away, you know it's Beef Rendang. Watching a video of it being prepared, I was seduced by the tenderness at the end of the cooking time, how the beef just shredded away with only the tension of chopsticks.
Ya...I'm a sucker for shredded beef.
So I made it yesterday but only after a trip to Asheville to pick up some critical ingredients: fresh galangal, fresh lemongrass, fresh coconut, and fresh chilies. The other ingredients I already had (shallots, garlic, ginger root, tamarind, keffir leaves, canned coconut milk and various spices.) Of the three recipes I read, all mentioned that the beef actually improves with time, so I tasted one piece (yum!) and put the rest in the freezer to share with company. One critical note is every recipe I read said to use 12 fresh or dried chilies. I'm a wuss and only used 4, but even that small delivers a tingle with each bite. Still, a very tasty tingle. When I do prepare it for the meal, I'll use the coconut rice as shown in the video.
if you go to the last few minutes of the video, you'll see how the beef shreds.
.
Aromatics, beef, toasted coconut (kerisik) and spices. I don't have a photo of the finished product (it was 9:30 PM and I forgot) but it looks exactly like the video image.
![IMG_3215.JPG IMG_3215.JPG](https://recipeswap.org/swap/data/attachments/2/2388-baf030840ad567a5eea82b57dbf806f3.jpg)
Ya...I'm a sucker for shredded beef.
So I made it yesterday but only after a trip to Asheville to pick up some critical ingredients: fresh galangal, fresh lemongrass, fresh coconut, and fresh chilies. The other ingredients I already had (shallots, garlic, ginger root, tamarind, keffir leaves, canned coconut milk and various spices.) Of the three recipes I read, all mentioned that the beef actually improves with time, so I tasted one piece (yum!) and put the rest in the freezer to share with company. One critical note is every recipe I read said to use 12 fresh or dried chilies. I'm a wuss and only used 4, but even that small delivers a tingle with each bite. Still, a very tasty tingle. When I do prepare it for the meal, I'll use the coconut rice as shown in the video.
if you go to the last few minutes of the video, you'll see how the beef shreds.
![House of doors.jpeg House of doors.jpeg](https://recipeswap.org/swap/data/attachments/2/2384-0621c0011256c69b63e3a9acf9eb9ee5.jpg)
Aromatics, beef, toasted coconut (kerisik) and spices. I don't have a photo of the finished product (it was 9:30 PM and I forgot) but it looks exactly like the video image.
![IMG_3212.JPG IMG_3212.JPG](https://recipeswap.org/swap/data/attachments/2/2385-397f3749925355cd870b311688fbfd22.jpg)
![IMG_3213.JPG IMG_3213.JPG](https://recipeswap.org/swap/data/attachments/2/2386-42267a5f711f3a34fac362cd51133ef6.jpg)
![IMG_3214.JPG IMG_3214.JPG](https://recipeswap.org/swap/data/attachments/2/2387-d33e1d2f2dc154a39883c526565c8c25.jpg)
![IMG_3215.JPG IMG_3215.JPG](https://recipeswap.org/swap/data/attachments/2/2388-baf030840ad567a5eea82b57dbf806f3.jpg)
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