Recipes
Indonesian Beef
Ironically, this is a recipe from a microwave cookbook which I am now using on my induction cooker. The author must have gone through a fair amount of effort in converting this recipe from a normal convection cooking method to microwave, and now I am converting it back to convection!
The reason why I use convection, rather than the microwave method, is that the stewing beef available in South Africa is usually rather tough. This means microwave cooking times do not really work as you need to cook the meat a bit longer to get it tender.
Ingredients
A few of the ingredients used in this recipe
- Stewing steak
- 1 tsp Peanut butter
- Chopped onion/leek
- 1 tsp Ground ginger (you can use use fresh ginger)
- ½ tsp Ground coriander
- ½ tsp Ground nutmeg
- pinch Ground cloves (cloves can be very overpowering)
- 1 cup Beef Stock
- 1 Tbsp Brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp Soy sauce
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method
Cook the peanut butter in some olive oil on a low heat. Stir until the peanut butter forms a paste with the oil - add a bit more oil if the mixture is too dry.
Add the onions/leeks and fry until golden. Add the spices while frying the onions.
Move the onions/leeks to one side of the pot.
Move the onions to one side of the pot
Note the peanut butter residue. Add the steak to the pan in this peanut butter residue and keep turning it until it is nicely browned.
Browning the steak
Once you are happy that the steak is sealed, add the stock and mix the onions with the steak.
Adding the stock
Depending on how tough the steak is, you will need to cook this on a low heat for at least an hour. You do want the meat to be soft, and the flavours from the spice to infuse into the steak. Add a bit more water if the mixture gets a bit dry.
Once you are happy that the steak is soft enough, add the sugar, soy sauce and pepper. At this stage you can also add veg such as cauliflower and baby marrows to the mix if you wish. Stir and allow to simmer until the sauce is of the consistency you require.
Serve on a bed of rice.
Enjoy!
Reference
Ross, Dianne. Sharp South African Microwave Cookbook: Meats (1983).
(13 August 2023)
