10 Ways to Make Rendang Appealing Post-Raya

Have you ever heard of a Muslim household in Malaysia that doesn’t serve rendang during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festivities? Of course not! The idea is as absurd as a Malaysian who has not tasted nasi lemak.

Before I go any further, does everyone know rendang? If you’re unfamiliar, it’s basically a slow-cooked spiced meat dish, either swimming in thick sauce or served dry. Rendang is also a favourite dish prepared for celebrations or festivals. 

Rendang Overload

If you’re living in Malaysia, you must have enjoyed more than your fair share of rendang, especially during the recent Hari Raya celebrations. Actually, having rendang on the first day of Hari Raya is more than enough to keep you full until next year. Unfortunately, just like every other year, you will have an excess of rendang that you just don’t know what to do with. 

There are many ways to deal with this dilemma. You could throw it away, serve it many, MANY times when your friends and relatives come over to your house, attempt to give it to your neighbours and gain ‘good neighbour’ brownie points or even store it at in the forgotten corner of your freezer. Personally, I find the best thing to do is to completely rework the rendang into something new and make it appetising again even after the Raya celebrations are long over.

Let’s check out these 10 appealing ideas to revamp the way you eat your rendang.

1. Floss (Serunding)

One of the dishes that you can make from leftover rendang is floss. It tastes really good and it gives a different twist to the smoky rendang flavour, especially when eaten with ‘nasi impit’.

Ingredients

• 350g leftover rendang (chicken/ beef)
• 3 tablespoons of sugar

Method:

1. Shred the rendang pieces and use a sieve to separate the meat from its juices.
2. And then, put it into a pan on medium low heat and add some sugar.
3. Let the meat cook until completely dry. Stir gently when needed. This process will take 10 minutes.

2. Sandwich

You’ll need a sandwich toaster for this recipe. If not a well-buttered pan will suffice. Simply butter up two slices of bread, line them up in the toaster, spread some rendang along with some healthy greens such as capsicum, lettuce, or even leftover salad. Then, place the remaining pieces of bread on top and seal the toaster shut for a minute or two.

If you are using the pan, simply put the pan on medium high heat along with a bit of butter. Wait until the butter has melted. Swirl it around the pan and toast the bread for three minutes on each side.

Voila! You have healthy sandwiches that are easy to take on the go.

3. Rendang Puff

Curry puffs are always a yummy snack that you can eat anytime of the day. Be it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper or even lonely Friday Nights watching Bridget Jones with your furry baby.

So, instead of making the usual curry potato filled puff, why not make a rendang version? Here’s how to make the addictive puff:

Ingredients:

• 300g of wheat flour
• 1/2 cup of vegetable cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 100ml water
• 1/2 tablespoon of edible lime chalk, clear and mixed with 1/4 cup water.

Method:

1. In a wok on a medium high heat, heat the oil with butter until the butter completely melts.
2. Place the butter-oil mixture into a bowl filled with flour. Mix the ingredient using a spatula.
3. Pour in the lime chalk mixture and water. Mix well.
4. Transfer the dough into a plastic container. Wrap it tightly and keep it for 4 hours. This will ensure the dough to be soft and slightly oily.
5. Take out the dough and make small batches of dough (1/2 a size of your fist) and roll them on a well-floured area. Make sure the sheets are 1/2 an inch in thickness.
6. Cut the sheets to two or four rectangular sheets depending on the size of the dough sheet. Spread one tablespoon of rendang filling and place another sheet on top. 
7. Wet the tip of your index finger and thumb and start twisting the edge. If not, use the easy curry puff maker mould that you can get easily in the nearest pastry shop.
8. Fill 1/2 a deep-bottomed wok with oil and heat it on a medium high heat. As soon as the oil is bubbling, put in your curry puffs and fry till golden brown for 3-5 minutes.  

4. Fried Rice

The standard Asian solution for most leftovers is to churn out some delicious fried rice by adding chicken rendang into the mix.

To make it is so simple! Just add in some overnight rice on a melted butter-filled pan on a medium high heat and some of the rendang you have in the fridge. Done and delicious!

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5. Rendang Meatballs

Rendang meatballs? Is it possible? The answer is, yes!

Usually, making meatballs require you to use raw meat. So, how can you come up with a delicious rendang meatball recipe? The answer is crust!

Just like how you prepare the rendang when making floss, shred the rendang meat first. For the next steps and other ingredients, lets refer to the recipe below:

Ingredients:

• 200g rendang meat, shredded
• 2 boiled potatoes, peeled and mashed
• 1 egg
• 100g dried bread crumbs
• Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Mix the shredded meat with mashed potatoes and egg.
2. Form the mixture into oblong balls.
3. Roll each meatball in dried breadcrumbs
4. Deep fry the meatballs in a deep-bottomed pan on medium high heat. Fill the oil up to ½ of the pan. Fry the balls for 3-5 minutes until golden brown.
5. Place the leftover meatballs on absorbent paper for a couple of minutes before serving.

6. Rendang sushi roll

Malaysians love their sushi and with the growing demand, many sushi restaurants have created various localised sushi flavours. If they can create a nasi lemak sushi, why not you try making a rendang version?

Ingredients:

• 175g rendang, cut into long strips
• 100g sushi rice, rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons of vinegar
• 2-3 sheets nori sushi sheets
• ½ small cucumber, peeled, deseeded and cut into thin batons

Method:

1. Put the sushi rice into a large saucepan with a lid. Cook according to the packet instructions.  Remove from the heat, cover and allow to cool in the pan, according to the packet instructions.
2. To make the sushi, spread an even layer of rice over the nori sheet, shiny side down, Spread an even layer of rice over the nori, leaving a 1cm/ ½inch border.  Drizzle with vinegar.
3. Arrange the rendang and cucumber in a strip along the length of the rice. Slowly roll up the bamboo mat pressing lightly to seal.
4. Carefully remove the roll from the mat. Wrap in cling film and leave in a cool place, but not in the fridge. Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients
5. To serve, moisten a sharp knife, trim the edges then cut into 5-6 rolls. 

7. Rendang Samosa

Another snack time favourite is the simple, crunchy-on-the-outside-moist-on-the-inside samosa. Similar to making curry puffs, using rendang as the filling for samosas would be a nice change for you to curb that snacking desire in you, especially when watching your favourite soaps or catching up with deadlines late into the night.

Learn how to make the crispiest, crunchiest samosa pastry below:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of ghee
• 1/2 cup of water
• Vegetable oil for frying

Method:

1. Sieve the flour and salt together in a bowl. You can add a little more or less salt to taste if you desire.
2. Add the ghee. Mix it in with your fingers, working with a handful of flour at a time. Keep mixing until all of the flour is coated with fat and a dough has begun to form. It should still be quite dry and flaky.
3. Mix in 5 tablespoons of water. Use your finger to work the water into the dough to loosen it up. The consistency should be soft and pliable, but not wet. Add more water if necessary.
4. Turn out the dough and knead it. Put the dough on a clean surface and knead it with your hands for about 4 minutes, until it is smooth and slightly shiny. Form it into the shape of a ball.
5. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes. Cover it with plastic wrap. Let it rest on the counter while you make the filling.This will help the dough achieve a better texture.
6. Divide the dough into eight equal portions.
7. Roll each dough balls into a chapati-like sheet. Make sure the sheets are not too thin and too small.
8. Cut each chapatti into two halves.
9. Stuff and fold the samosas. Spoon 2 teaspoons of rendang filling into the center of a piece of dough, then bring the edges together to form a cone shape. Seal the edges carefully using a little water. 
10. Fill 1/2 a deep-bottomed wok with oil and heat it on a medium high heat. As soon as the oil is bubbling, put in your samosas and fry till golden brown for 3-5 minutes.  

     

8. Rendang Lasagne

To all Italians, we Malaysians are going to apologize for creating another localised version of your beloved traditional dish, the lasagne. So, for those who do not know what a lasagne is, allow me to summarise it in just six words; layers of yummy meat and pastry. And, I cannot stress more on the ’yummy’ part.

Making this lasagne is quite simple. It is, however, important that you use a sauce variety of rendang and not the dry version. The sauce works to cook the pasta sheets and without it you’ll be biting into unpleasant crunchy layers.

To get started, set your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Grab a baking tin or casserole tin and lay the pasta sheets neatly inside and spread a generous amount of rendang on top. Repeat the process three or four times until you reach the perfect height. Then, bake it for 15-25 minutes. If you want some extra heat, chopped some red chillies and sprinkle them with your best salt bae impression.

9. Rendang Pot Pie

Another ‘East Meets West’ potential recipe involves the pot pie! This dish is known to be the best comfort food in England, especially during rainy weather. Usually stuffed full of meat or chicken, it seems like perfect Malaysianized twist to add rendang. Delish!

Try a hand on a rendang version and see for yourself how the added heat of the rendang will make you go second or third servings!

Ingredients:
a) Pot Pie Filling
• 100g of leftover rendang
• 1 red chilli, sliced thinly (optional)

b) Pot pie crust
• 1 frozen roti prate
• 1 beaten egg

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celcius.
2. Pour rendang filling into small ramekin bowls.
3. Brush the edges of the bowl with beaten egg.
4. Place frozen roti prata on top, don’t worry about the excess edges. Brush the top of roti prata with beaten egg. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and puffy.

10. Rendang Spring Rolls

Finally, the last recipe. The one that you’ve been waiting for (well, maybe), rendang spring rolls. Spring rolls are another easy-to-make snack food, just like the curry puffs and samosas.

To make these delectable rendang spring rolls, you just need some time, a dash of willpower and lots of leftover rendang. All you need is to make the pastry but hey, you can always grab the ready-made popiah pastry sheets from any big grocery store in Malaysia.

Simply lay the sheet out, fill with a tablespoon or two of rendang, fold in the sides of the sheet and roll closed. Use a bit of water or egg whites to seal the pastry closed. Once your rolls are ready to go, deep fry the rolls until it turns into a light golden colour. Yum!

Rendang Never Looked This Good!

So, what is your verdict? Do you like all the recipes I have shared here? Besides making rendang appetising again, these recipes are great as ‘emergency hacks’ when you have unannounced guests at your house. After all, Raya celebrations are not over yet. 

Do share with us your lovely results on social media by tagging us at #butterkicap. We don’t want to miss out sharing your success (or failures, fingers crossed!) in making this year a zero-waste Raya, rendang-wise.