Chicken Rendang

Rendang is curried and stewed meat dish, cooked with coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves with other spices. The dish is braised for hours, depends on the type of meat used, till the oil and extract of all the ingredients are cooked out, which later act as natural preservatives. A well-cooked rendang dish can be stored up to days in room temperature, weeks in refrigerator and months in freezer. I did not make this up. This dish is prepared by using almost all spices available to Indonesian cooking.

Originated in Padang, West Sumatra, this dish has been adapted on other areas in Southeast Asia. Original Rendang Padang is dark brown in color, Rendang Java is yellow in color. The difference is in the base paste used.

Chicken rendang needs to be cooked for 1-2 hours. Beef rendang can take 2-4 hours. The longer the process, the better it taste. Rendang is at its best on the second and third day after cooking. The spices really settled and enriched the dish.

The recipe featured here is chicken rendang. Whole chicken is used and spice paste is made from scratch. There are many commercially packed rendang spices. They are easy to prepare, but to make the most out of it, add half of the spice ingredients I have here and you will have outstanding instant rendang. Serve with warm steamed rice. Or mop up the sauces with thick and crusty country bread.