It is time that I tell you about the results from my first Rendang experiment.

The short version: excellent for a start, but needs more work.

The long version: Got myself three one-inch slices of nice beef roast. Cleaned away most of the fat.

Braised the meet on very low temperature for a very long time in a broth made from stock, cinnamon, aniseed, fennel seeds, galangal, lime leaves, chilly and cloves. Lots of aniseed, cinnamon and cloves, actually – much more than anticipated.

I had it cooking over three hours. You’d want the meat to fall apart by looking at it sharply, that’s how you know when it is done.

Remove the meat, add coconut milk and season to taste. Also allow the liquid to thicken. Serve with fragrant rice.

What went wrong? First, I think I should have had grated coconut in the broth to begin with, giving the meat a sweeter taste. I think this must be grates coconut; milk will just curly and also not help with thickening. Second, I didn’t allow the broth to thicken enough. It was nice in taste but just too runny. Next time…