Nasi Grombyang｜Central Java
Part 29/38 in a series exploring one dish from each province of Indonesia.
This beef and rice stew is a specialty of Pemalang, where traditionally it would be made woth buffalo. These days beef is much more common, and while I could probably find buffalo meat from a butcher somewhere here, I think it would be pretty expensive.
The nice thing about this dish is how it’s served with the rice in it, which is something I always like to do myself when I order stews like this. With soto medan, empal gentong, coto makassar, I always make sure to get a side of rice and dump it in there to absorb all the flavour.
☒ UNTESTED
Ingredients
Main stuff
- 1 kg beef
- 2 L water
- 2 lemongrass, pounded
- 1 cm galangal, pounded
- 2 kaffir lime leaves
- 3 Indonesian bay leaves (different to bay)
- 2 tbsp (fried grated coconut), finely crushed
- 1 tbsp tauco (fermented soy beans)
- 4 tbsp palm sugar
- Salt to taste
- Chicken stock powder to taste
Spices to blend
- 10 cloves of garlic
- 15 Indonesian onions (5 shallots)
- 4 candlenuts
- 1 tsp white pepper powder
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 3 cm ginger
- 3 cm turmeric
- 5 cm galangal, pounded
- 2 lemongrass stalks, pounded and tied in a knot
- 2 Indonesian bay leaves (different to bay)
To serve
- 8 portions of rice
- spring onions, finely sliced
- crispy fried onions
- lime wedges
Prep
Blend up the blended bits.
Cooking
Boil the meat for five minutes, then discard the water and dice the meat.
Boil again for __ minutes in 2 L water.
Sauté the blended spices until fragrant and cooked (_ minutes).
Add the lemongrass, galangal, lime leaves, and bay leaves. Cook for a further 3 minutes.
Add all this to the meat and broth, together with the grated coconut, tauco, brown sugar, salt, and stock powder.
Cook until the meat is tender and the water is reduced (__ minutes). Top up with additional water if necessary.
Serve in a bowl over a portion of rice, sprinkled with the spring onion, fried onions, and a lime wedge for squeezing.