I don't remember the last time I ate or cook something with beef. Normally if I eat meat, it's chicken, but most of the time I am vegetarian. Something that I just realised. Beef is also quite expensive here, so that is another reason I don't cook beef so often as chicken. I bought 750 gram of beefsteak and I paid 6 euros.
I was eating this beef with my eyes closed, it was sooooo delicious! You should really give it a try. Unless you are vegetarian, then this is probably nothing for you. This Beef Balado is not too spicy, at least not for me. It is medium spicy and a bit sour. Best combination ever! The meat has a nice bite which means it is not soft but still soft enough that you can chew it. I like it when meat has a bite. I don't really like soft meat. It almost has the same structure as beef jerky, but not totally. (I suddenly am thinking to open my own Indonesian restaurant).
Ingredients
For Spicy Beef Balado you will need:
750 beefsteak
300 gram lombok chilli peppers
7 cloves of garlic
2 large onions
1 large tomato
3 tea spoon of vinegar
1 tea spoon of sugar
3 tea spoon of salt
sunflower oil
3 cups of pandan rice
Instructions
Cut the beefsteak in thin small slices (4x4 cm). Peel and mince the garlic. In a large bowl, add the beef, minced garlic and 2 tea spoon of salt. Leave the beef for 30 minutes.
Wash the pandan rice and cook it using a rice cooker. (if you have one).
After 30 minutes, boil 1.5 liter of water and pour it into a large wok.
Add the beef into the wok with boiling water and let it cook till there is no water remaining.
Cut the stalks of the lombok chilli peppers and cut the peppers in large pieces.
With a food processor, chop the chillies, onions and tomato.
It takes about 30 - 45 minutes to cook the beef till there is no water left anymore. It should look quite dry. It started to smell good already because of the garlic.
Take a deep frying pan, pour enough sunflower oil and fry the beef slices till they are golden brown. Make sure they are not totally dark brown.
Take the wok used in the beginning and add some sunflower oil. Fry the chilli mix for about 15 minutes till they become soft. After 15 minutes, add the vinegar, remaining salt (1 tea spoon) and sugar. Stir for another 5 minutes. At the end, add the beef into the wok. Mix another 15 minutes to get the flavours all mixed and absorbed in the beef.
Dinner is ready! The spicy beef has a nice hint of sour taste because of the vinegar. I am still drooling looking at these images even though I ate already. Maybe I go for a second round now. :-D