Beef · Slow cooker adaptation

Sous Vide Everything Beef Rendang (Slow Cooker)

Sous Vide Everything's Guga cooked rendang, the Indonesian slow braise once voted CNN's number one dish in the world. He reduced guajillo chillies, lemongrass and toasted coconut down with chuck until the curry almost vanished and the beef pulled apart with a fork. The slow cooker gives you that same long, dark reduce without minding the hob.

R By Richard · Adapted from Sous Vide Everything · Published 23 June 2026
👁 1.1M source views ❤️ 36.3k source likes
⏱Prep 30 min
🍲Slow cook 8 hr (Low)
I made the #1 BEEF in the WORLD and it Blew my mind! Beef Rendang.

Source video by Sous Vide Everything on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.

Beef rendang is a dry Indonesian curry where chunks of beef simmer in coconut milk and a paste of chillies, lemongrass, garlic and shallots until the liquid has cooked away and the meat falls apart. The Sous Vide Everything channel demonstrates it two ways, a traditional hob braise and a 24 hour sous vide. This adaptation follows the traditional braise route, bloomed on the hob and then handed to the slow cooker for the long reduce. Lid off in the final hour to drive off the last of the moisture so the curry finishes coating the beef rather than swimming around it.

Slow cooker notes: Source presents rendang two ways: traditional hob braise of 2 to 3 hours and a 24 hour sous vide at 145F / 63C. This adaptation drops the sous vide route. The spice paste, tamarind and kerisik are still bloomed on the hob first because slow cookers do not develop Maillard flavour, then transferred to the slow cooker with the beef and coconut milk for Low 8 hours. Lid is removed for the final hour to evaporate liquid, since rendang must finish nearly dry and slow cookers retain moisture.

Ingredients

Beef
  • beef chuck, cut into chunks for braising
Spice paste
  • dried guajillo chillies, stems and seeds removed, roughly chopped
  • 1 podstar anise
  • 1 stickcinnamon stick
  • green cardamom pods
  • lemongrass paste
  • ginger paste
  • garlic, peeled
  • shallots, peeled
Kerisik
  • desiccated coconut, toasted in a dry pan to a deep brown
Braise
  • coconut milk
  • concentrated tamarind paste
To finish
  • salt (add late)

Method

  1. Pound the chopped guajillo chillies, star anise and cinnamon stick in a pestle and mortar (or blitz in a blender) to a coarse powder. Add the cardamom and mix through.

    ~5 min

  2. Tip the dry spice mix into a food processor with the lemongrass paste, ginger paste, garlic and shallots. Blend on high to a smooth wet paste.

    ~5 min

  3. Toast the desiccated coconut in a dry pan over medium heat until evenly deep brown, stirring constantly so it does not burn. Tip into the pestle and mortar and pound to a coarse paste. This is the kerisik.

    ~10 min

  4. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the wet spice paste and cook it down, splashing in a little coconut milk and deglazing as it thickens. Cook until you have a thick, glossy paste.

    ~8 min

  5. Stir the tamarind paste and the kerisik into the bloomed spice paste until fully combined.

    ~2 min

  6. Tip the beef chunks into the pan and turn through the paste so every piece is coated.

    ~3 min

  7. Transfer the beef and paste to the slow cooker. Pour in enough coconut milk to almost cover the beef. Set to Low for 8 hours.

    ~5 min

  8. For the final hour, remove the lid and continue on Low so the sauce reduces and thickens around the beef. Stir occasionally so nothing catches on the sides.

    ~60 min

  9. Check for seasoning and adjust with salt. Serve with steamed rice.

    ~2 min

Frequently asked

Do I really need to bloom the spice paste on the hob first?
Yes. Slow cookers steam rather than fry, so they cannot develop the deep, toasted flavour rendang depends on. Frying the paste in a pan first drives off raw water from the aromatics and starts the caramelisation that makes the finished curry taste right.
What is kerisik and can I skip it?
Kerisik is toasted desiccated coconut pounded to a paste. It thickens rendang and gives it a nutty, slightly grainy texture that the host's tasting partner specifically picks up on. Skipping it leaves the curry thinner and one note flatter, so it is worth the extra five minutes.
Can I use a different chilli instead of guajillo?
Yes. The host says guajillo works well but any dried chilli of your choice is fine. Leave the seeds in for a hotter result, take them out for a milder one.
Why does the lid come off for the final hour?
Rendang is meant to finish almost dry, with the curry coating the beef rather than swimming around it. Slow cookers trap moisture under the lid, so taking the lid off in the last hour lets the sauce reduce down to the right consistency.
Which cut of beef should I use?
Chuck is what the host uses and recommends. Any economical braising cut works. Avoid lean, quick cook cuts like ribeye or sirloin, they will dry out over 8 hours and the dish relies on the connective tissue breaking down.
Extraction notes (transparency): All ingredient quantities are null because the transcript states no amounts (the host directs viewers to the YouTube description for measurements, but the description field is empty in the source data). Method, ingredient identities and cook timings are explicit in the transcript. Servings count not stated. Star anise quantity is shown as a single pod but not verbally confirmed; cinnamon is explicitly one stick. The video covers two cook methods for the same dish (traditional braise and sous vide), not two different recipes, so it is treated as a single recipe adapted to the slow cooker.