Rawon

Ingredients

Beef

• 1.2 kgbeef shin or brisket, in cubes
• 2.5 litreswater
• 2 tspsalt

Keluak

• 8to 10 kluwek nuts, prepared and fermented

Bumbu

• 8shallots
• 6 clovesgarlic
• 5candlenuts
• 3cm turmeric
• 2cm galangal
• 3red chillies
• 1 tspground coriander
• 1 tspshrimp paste, toasted

Aromatics

• 3 stalkslemongrass, bruised
• 5kaffir lime leaves
• 3salam leaves
• 2cm galangal, sliced

To serve

• steamed rice
• bean sprouts, short raw ones
• salted duck egg
• sambal terasi
• prawn crackers
• fried shallots
• lime wedges

Directions

1. Check each nut before using it: crack it open and smell it. The flesh should be soft, oily, deep black and smell earthy and faintly of truffle or chocolate. Scoop the black flesh out and soak it in a little warm water or beef stock for 15 minutes, then mash it smooth.
2. Mash it into a paste with liquid rather than adding it dry, or it stays in lumps that never disperse. Now simmer the beef in the water with salt for about an hour and a half, skimming, until nearly tender.
3. Skim the broth carefully, because rawon should be dark and clean rather than muddy and greasy. Keep all the broth, which the soup is built on.
4. Blend the shallots, garlic, candlenuts, turmeric, galangal, chillies, coriander and toasted shrimp paste into a smooth bumbu. Candlenuts are mildly toxic raw and must be cooked, which frying the bumbu does.
5. Fry the bumbu in oil over a medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Fry it until it darkens and the oil separates and pools at the edges, which is the sign the aromatics are cooked. Add the bruised lemongrass, lime leaves, salam leaves and sliced galangal and fry a minute more. Now add the mashed kluwek paste and fry it for 3 minutes.
6. Tip the whole lot into the beef and its broth. Simmer, partly covered, for another hour until the beef is completely tender. The broth should darken steadily to a deep brown-black over that hour. Taste and season, and expect it to want salt. Rest it off the heat, and it is genuinely better the next day.
7. Serve it in bowls over or beside steamed rice. Short raw bean sprouts, taoge pendek, are piled on top and their crunch against the soft beef is the point. Add half a salted duck egg, a spoonful of sambal terasi, prawn crackers and a squeeze of lime.

Technique

• Kluwek is sold whole in Indonesian shops and occasionally as a ready-made paste.
• The flavour is often compared to truffle or to black garlic and it is genuinely unusual.
• It freezes well and the colour deepens as it stands.

Substitutions

• Ready-made kluwek paste, which is sold in jars.
• Macadamia nuts in place of candlenuts.

Variations

• Rawon Setan, the fiery Surabaya version sold late at night.
• With beef tendon or offal as well as shin.
• Made with a thinner broth, as a lighter soup.

History

East Javanese black beef soup coloured by keluak nuts, which must be fermented and buried before use to break down their toxins.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rawon?

Rawon is a soup & stew from Indonesia: east Javanese black beef soup coloured by keluak nuts. East Javanese black beef soup coloured by keluak nuts, which must be fermented and buried before use to break down their toxins.

How long does Rawon take to make?

Rawon takes 40 min of preparation and 2 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Rawon?

Yes, within limits. Ready-made kluwek paste, which is sold in jars. Macadamia nuts in place of candlenuts.

What is the most important thing to get right in Rawon?

Mash it into a paste with liquid rather than adding it dry, or it stays in lumps that never disperse. Now simmer the beef in the water with salt for about an hour and a half, skimming, until nearly tender.