potluck with the girls was a major success!!!
i have to confess that potluck may not be the best way to have a gathering if you're thinking of saving up on meals. well definitely not a good money-saving plan if you decide to prepare what i did. beef was costly and so was the spices. the worst thing was i couldn't find anywhere selling cumin powder within the vicinity of my neighbourhood. travelled all the way to bedok interchange just to get cumin powder, only to realise it's called 小茴香. =.=
i bet it's selling in every provision shop in the market, just that the auntie had no clue what cumin was. one of them confidently replied with with a "NO." when i asked if she's selling cumin powder. as i was about to turn away, she looked at me and asked, "what's cumin?". (auntie...so cute hor.)

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here i have is the recipe from which i used to cook the beef rendang. it's really easy to follow and it came out beautifully.


Beef Rendang

(taken from The New Mrs. Lee's Cookbook: Nonya Cuisine)


Ingredients
-1 onion
-600 g beef shin
-500 g grated coconut
-1 rounded tbsp tamarind (asam) pulp
-1 tsp sugar
-1 tsp salt


Paste
-4 slices galangal
-4 slices ginger
-4 cloves garlic
-15 dried chillies or 2 tbsp pounded red chillies
-1 stalk lemon grass
-1 tbsp coriander powder
-1/2 tsp cumin



1. Peel and roughly slice the galangal, ginger and garlic.
2. Peel and slice the onion. Set aside.

3. Prepare the coconut milk. (alternatively, you can use those packed ones.)
4. Prepare the tamarind marinade: soak the tamarind pulp in 120 ml of warm water for 5 minutes. Squeeze the seeds and fiber with your fingers to extract as much juice and flavor as possible. Strain and discard fibers.

5. Soak the dried chillies for the paste in hot water. Deseed them and roughly chop the soaked dried chilies (use a lot less if you are not used to spiciness).

6. Pound/blend them together with the coriander powder and cumin. Add the peeled and bruised lemon grass last (use the white portion only).

7. Slice/Dice the beef according to your own preference.
8. Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to boil then simmer uncovered until the sauce has reduced by half. Cover and simmer for 30 mins until the meat is tender. (i had the beef boiling for more than 2hours to reduce the sauce to desired consistency. =.=)

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i have to say...Mrs.Lee's recipe is definitely shioka~!!

(fyi: Mrs.Lee refers to Mr.Lee Kuan Yew's mum.)

looks as good as it taste. woohoo~ *pats on my shoulder*

my 1st attempt came out looking fab!!! >.<

shuning's 1st time chao fan!

a lil too dry for me. but was very good!! XD

well-done everybody.

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p.s(ahtan reminded me that since the beef rendang was so expensive, consider it as a farewell gift before i fly off again. LOL.)