While exploring different Asian cuisines, I have often overlooked Indonesian food in favor of Thai food. There is really no justification for this as I have loved the Indonesian food I’ve cooked and tasted (e.g. Gado Gado in Plenty). Fire Islands by Eleanor Ford seems to have recipes that are as highly regarded as its cover is beautiful. Let’s give it a try!

Beef rendang is one of the most popular Indonesian dishes. It is a simple and indulgent beef braise. Its richness derives from the huge amount of coconut milk used in the braise (100% of the liquid, and it is reduced for hours as well.)

The dish turned out great. There is plenty of thick sauce to go with rice. I made a slightly larger batch (1.5x) and found that cooking it for 3 hours instead of 2 resulted in a better consistency. It would be good to pair with some vegetables; fortunately, Fire Islands has extensive menu options for every recipe. I elected to also cook a vegetable stir-fry.

The golden-vegetable stir-fry focused on corn. It would probably be best to make this one when corn is in season, bet it was tasty and attractive even with frozen corn. I was able to get the baby corn at my local Asian market (Hmart). It could use a little more oil in the stir-fry, but otherwise the preparation was straightforward.

The dish was not as intensely flavorful as the rendang, pretty dry and healthy, not that oily. Good accompaniment for something saucier like beef rendang.

Joe’s Rating: 6.5 / 5.5 (Rendang / Stir-Fry)
Difficulty: 4.5 / 3.5