I have an awesome Beef Rendang recipe I learned from a local. The balance and depth of flavors of rendang is really remarkable considering it doesn't contain all that many ingredients, but it does have one major drawback: it literally takes hours to make. I wanted to see if I could make a rendang with as much flavor as the original, that comes together faster, and with fewer steps.
The first thing I did was swap chicken in for beef, as chicken will become fork-tender much faster than any other meat. To ensure the chicken doesn't dry out, I used legs (thighs and drumsticks), instead of chicken breast meat. Boneless chicken will cook faster, but it won't have the same depth of flavor as Chicken Rendang made with bone-in dark meat. My compromise was to use a cleaver to chop the thighs and drumsticks into smaller pieces, which helps the chicken cook faster, while retaining all the flavor.
After browning the chicken, you'll notice a lot of oil in the pan. It may be tempting to dump some out, but don't do it. The paste really needs a lot of oil to brown evenly, otherwise it will burn before it caramelizes. If the amount of oil really bothers you, you can skim some off with a spoon after you've added the coconut milk and chicken. Just be sure to leave a little bit of oil as some of it is needed to caramelize the sauce around the chicken in the last step.
Most rendang recipes have you add aromatics like lemongrass and galangal both whole, as well as in a spice paste. It's extra work that's not necessary. Grind them in the food processor and they will release plenty of flavor, reducing the amount of prep needed for the ingredients.
One exception to this is the garlic. Processing garlic together with shallots can occasionally cause an undesirable reaction that turns the paste a greenish color and makes it taste bitter. By handling the garlic separately, you can avoid this problem and it doesn't create a meaningful increase in the amount of work.
Finally I've added kerisik (roasted coconut) to the rendang at the end. This not only imparts a wonderful nutty taste, it also absorbs any remaining liquid, allowing you to caramelize the sauce around the chicken much faster.
These time-saving tricks allowed me to put this Chicken Rendang recipe together in just under one hour, making it a candidate for a weeknight dinner, but like the beef version, it will taste better the next day. That makes it a perfect make-ahead dish for a lazy Sunday, which you can then reheat and enjoy during the week.
After trying my Chicken Rendang, join me on a Curry World Tour by checking out my Japanese Curry from Scratch, Thai Green Curry Chicken, and my Butter Chicken recipes. You can also explore my entire Curry collection here, featuring a variety of proteins, including some plant-based recipes.
📖 Recipe
Units
Ingredients
for spice paste
- 100 grams shallots (20 Asian shallots peeled and chopped)
- 30 grams galangal (1 ½ inch piece peeled, sliced)
- 30 grams lemongrass (~ 2 stalks, light part only, thinly sliced)
- 20 grams ginger (peeled)
- 3 tablespoons dried chili flakes (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric (or 1 fresh turmeric root)
for rendang
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 25 grams garlic (4 large cloves, smashed)
- 925 grams boneless skin-on chicken thighs (chopped into pieces)
- 1 cup coconut milk (poured from the top of an unshaken can)
- 20 grams coconut sugar (2 tablespoons)
- 5 kaffir lime leaves (sliced into very thin threads)
- ¾ cup grated unsweetened coconut 50 grams
Instructions
- Put the shallots, galangal, lemongrass, ginger, chili flakes, salt and turmeric in a small food processor or blender and puree, adding a bare minimum of water as necessary to keep the paste spinning.
- Heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed pan over medium heat and add the chicken, skin-side down and then add the garlic in the gaps between the chicken. Thoroughly brown the skin-side of the chicken and then transfer to a bowl.
- Add the spice paste to the pan you used to brown the chicken. Fry the spice paste until the paste is very thick, caramelized and fragrant. Stir-constantly to ensure even caramelization and to prevent the paste from burning to the pan.
- Return the chicken to the pan and add the coconut milk and coconut sugar. Adjust the heat down to maintain a gentle simmer and cook the chicken until it is tender, about 30 minutes. Be sure to stir the rendang regularly, especially towards the end as it will burn.
- If at this point you feel like there's too much oil, you can use a spoon to skim some off as it floats to the top.
- While the chicken cooks, add the grated coconut to a dry frying pan, and roast, stirring constantly until the coconut has browned and is very fragrant. Transfer the coconut to a bowl and set aside until the chicken is done.
- Once the chicken is tender and there is very little sauce remaining, turn up the heat to medium and add the toasted coconut and kaffir lime leaves.
- Stir-fry the rendang until the sauce has caramelized into a thick coating around the chicken (about 10 more minutes). Serve the Chicken Rendang with rice.
Kathy Stroup says
WOW! This was so delicious. I used some fresh Thai chilies along with the dried ones. The heat level was just right! After reading the comments, I decided to add a bit of paprika to give it more color. It still wasn't as vibrant as yours, but it was definitely red.
Yes, it's a fair bit of work, but the resulting dish is transportive. My house smelled like Southeast Asia. And it's really not that complicated to make.
The chicken I used was a bit fatty. I think American chickens tend to be that way due to how they're raised. I had to remove a fair amount of oil from the pot -4 paper towels-worth!
I used bone-in chicken thighs which I cut up, and I tossed the bones in the pot with the rest of the chicken because, why not?
I went to 2 Asian grocery stores, but I couldn't find kaffir lime leaves. I substituted finger limes which I finely chopped. I think the flavor is equivalent, but the limes made small chunks which burst with flavor when bitten into. Quite pleasant!
What do you think about making a large batch of paste and freezing it? It would be great to cut down the work, and it would blend in a bigger blender. I'm going to have to freeze the ingredients anyway; I bought too much galangal and lemongrass for one batch.
Thanks for the wonderful recipe! Easy-to-follow instructions and delicious results.
Marc says
So happy you enjoyed this Kathy! Rendang is made with a kind of long red chili that's medium spicy. For this one I used gochugaru which gives you a nice color without being insanely spicy. I love the idea of adding finger limes to this. Have you ever tried to cook with meyer lemon leaves? I'm not saying you should, but the leaves are pretty fragrant and I found myself wondering if it could be used for food as I was repotting it a few weeks ago. Also, great idea making the paste in advance and freezing it. That would definitely lower the hurdle of finding ingredients for this each time.
Kathy Stroup says
I have never tried cooking with Meyer lemon leaves, but it does sound interesting! I don't know why I don't have a kefir lime tree; I have almost every other kind of citrus.
The leaves of the finger lime are very small and tender, so I think they might be good for adding to a dish. I didn't have very many fruits and they weren't fully ripe, but they made a significant impact. It's been a cold Spring and my tree hasn't starting producing, but when it gets going, it's quite prolific!
I'll let you know how freezing the paste works out.
Marc says
When I bought my Meyer lemon tree they also had kaffir limes. They were really tiny so I ended up getting the Meyer but I might pick one up. I love the fragrance of the leaves and they'll be available year round.
Koshi says
Tried if and it was a BOMB 🙂 mine did turn out yellow because I cant put too much chili (have a 2 years old)...
During the caramelization it took sooo long because of too much water in my paste.. however, i lessen the coconut milk as i didnt have much chili and replaced with water
we all loved it and going to make it the second time in 2 weeks yummmmzzz...
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Koshi, glad to hear you enjoyed it!You could try using a less spicy chili powder next time to get the flavor of the chili without the heat.
Koshi says
yes true will do it the next time... Another thing I realized that we couldn't get the Lemongrass smell after the long caramelisation this time. Not sure if its just the season of lemongrass 🙁
Mimas Khodr says
This is just awesome
Yumyum says
Wow, is yours red because of all the chilly? That is an insane amount of chilly or the chillies you used are not that strong. I put 3 TEA spoons and its super hot already however it turned out to be a yellow sauce due to the turmeric powder. Caramelizing the spice mix did not change its color. Is that normal?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi, you need to use a chili powder that's not crazy spicy, otherwise, you won't get enough chili pepper flavor in the curry. You also want to use a chili pepper that has a deep red color (not orange-red) if you want to get the red color in the rendang. Hope that helps.
Tim Loher says
Or, don't use chili powder: use whole dried chilies that have been de-seeded and re-hydrated. For example, Serrano, guajillo, aji panca. This will produce more color (and earthiness) at any given heat level.