My late Aunt, married to a policeman used to live in the police barracks. At the time, grocery shopping is not as convenient as today so most of the time the ladies there cooked from rations. This is one of the dishes born out of using what's available. There were always a lot of onions and dried chillies plus bottled and canned goods like sardines and soy sauce were plentiful.
This dish uses just a few ingredients and quite simple to make. It uses soy sauce to tenderize the meat and you basically leave it on a slow simmer until everything grinds down into a lovely black savoury-sweet gravy. My late Aunt swears by sweet soy sauce from the brand 'Kipas Udang' but any sweet soy sauce will work just as well. She also used a whole bottle of sauce for 1kg of meat. You can use less if you like but you won't have as much gravy. Also if you keep the meat marinated in soy sauce overnight, then it really breaks down the meat into tender morsels. Since this dish does not use coconut milk too, it can keep for much longer than curries or masak lemak so good for busy people. You can just make a big batch for the week.
A dish born out of limited ingredients is now a solid family favourite
Now you might think that using copious amounts of onions in this dish might be a little overpowering for those who don't really like the pungent-sweetness of onions. Strangely enough because the onions grind down into the sauce even my son who picks onions out of the dishes can eat this. Still there's a lot of onions. Not a problem for the rest of my family who licks the platter clean when I make this dish.
Ingredients:
1 kg beef (sliced against the grain)
500g shallots
345ml bottle sweet soy sauce
20 dried chillies
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin
4 tbs of oil
Method:
Slice your shallots into slivers (you can also use the food processor to do this)
Marinade your beef in sweet soy sauce for at least 2 hours
Wash your chillies and blend it with a little bit of water until it becomes a paste
"Everything grinds down into a lovely black savoury-sweet gravy"
Dry fry you cumin and coriander seeds so it becomes fragrant
Heat oil in wok and fry your shallots until soft. Lift it out before it becomes too crunchy
In the same oil fry chilli paste until fragrant. Then add in spices and marinated beef
Cook your beef for about half an hour until it softens. You can add in a little salt if needed
Add back the soft-fried onions and mix it well
Allow to simmer for about an hour
Results:
After about an hour, the beef gravy will be black from the initial dark chocolate colour
Scatter some crispy fried onions on top to a little bit of crunch
The beef should be soft and tastes wonderful, naturally sweet from the onions balanced by the savouriness of the soy.
Chef says:
Beef is the best meat for this dish. Chicken does not have the right texture and the soy sauce will certainly overpower seafood. Lamb might be a worthy substitute
Try stirring in some curry powder with the chilli paste and you'll find it'll make an excellent accompaniment for briyani or nasi minyak
As most dishes like this, it's always better the next day
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Hmm... there's a possibility that you can sub the meat with portobello mushrooms/ shitake since it gives the meatiness that this it needs. However you might want to use less soy sauce and maybe add a bit of vegetable stock. To add a bit of heft to the dish perhaps some potatoes as well. I'm thinking of a vegetarian pong teh which has that same onion-sweetish flavour to it.
by Honey Ahmad November 10, 2009 3:14PM
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