HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF A VEGAN RENDANG BEFORE ? If no you will hear it today and if yes than you are in for a treat because this is the best vegan rendang recipe you will ever try.
It is so simple to make but yet the flavour profile is so complex, honestly this feels like a warm hug from your grandma. I used king oyster mushrooms to give that meaty texture to the dish, so that none of my friends who are new to vegan food miss meat.
The chillies, lemongrass, galangal, spices, and shallots, blend together and than infuse into the coconut milk to produce this bowl of rendang that is so full of flavour with a hint of sweetness from the natural concentration of the coconut milk. AHH! I can eat it all day everyday, I think what does the magic hear is that it is so rich in its flavour but still it gets its freshness and aroma from the lemongrass and the kaffir limes leaves. you can serve this with some warm jasmine rice or Malaysian 'roti'.
WHAT IS A RENDANG AND HOW CAN WE MAKE IT VEGAN?
Rendang is a 'dry curry' made with beef (which means it doesn't contain loads of sauce) from indonesia, it spread to malaysia, philipines and other southeast asian countries during migration.
To make it vegan we will be replacing the beef with king oyster mushrooms which will give this dish a meaty warmth and texture. You can experiment with different types of mild flavored mushrooms if you wish to but you will need to adjust the quantity of coconut milk.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE VEGAN MUSHROOM RENDANG?
Lemongrass, galangal, ginger, kaffir lime leaves and dried chillies
These 'herbs' except for the ginger goes in almost every thai curry paste, you can read more about them in my THAI JUNGLE CURRY RECIPE https://www.sweetlemonliving.com/post/vegan-thai-jungle-curry .
Coconut milk I would recommend using a good quality full fat coconut milk from a can for this
curry, don't use coconut milk beverage because it is a completely different thing to what we need here.
Cloves, star anise, cinnamon powder and green cardamom powder all of these spices you can get from a chinese or indian supermarket.
Cashews these will add some richness and thickness to this curry.
Tamarind pulp this will add a sour note to the vegan rendang,
TO KNOW HOW TO EXRACT TAMARIND PULP CHECK OUT MY BURMESE TOMATO AND POTATO CURRY RECIPE https://www.sweetlemonliving.com/post/burmese-tomato-and-potato-curry
King oyster mushrooms These are also known as king trumpet mushrooms or French horn mushrooms and are native to the Middle East and Africa and are cultivated widely throughout Asia, where they're popular ingredients in Chinese, Japanese and Korean cuisines.
Their dense, chewy texture makes them the perfect substitute for beef in this recipe.
Dried shredded coconut You need unsweetened dried coconut to make the 'kerisik' for the rendang.
WHAT IS 'KERISIK'?
Kersik is a condiment used quiet a bit in south asian cuisine particularly in malaysia, indonesia and singapore in things such as 'beef rendang' and 'nasi ulam' which is a variety of rice salad.
It is added to curries like beef or chicken rendang to give it that deep nutty flavour and aroma.
It is also added for its preservation properties as back in the day refrigerators weren't available.
CUISINE: INDONESIAN
COURSE:MAIN
SERVES:2
TOTAL TIME 45MINUTES
RECIPE OF VEGAN MUSHROOM RENDANG
INGREDIENTS
for the curry paste
5g dried red mild chillies
3 cloves garlic
1/4cup shallots, chopped
1/2 of a stalk of lemongrass, finely chopped
1inch piece of galangal,chopped
1inch piece of ginger,chopped
4 cloves
2 green cardamoms
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 star anise
5 cashews
for the curry
11/2cup coconut milk
1tbsp tamarind pulp
salt to taste
2tbsp dried shredded coconut
3 kaffir lime leaves, torn into pieces
about 1 cup of king oyster mushrooms, hand torn from the center into large chunks
INSTRUCTIONS
To make the kerisik
Toast the coconut in a dry skillet until really dark in colour, you are looking for a deep brown colour
than grind it in a pestle and mortar until it becomes a paste and is oily.
To make the curry paste
Grind all the ingredients for the curry paste in a blender and set aside.
To make the curry
Heat 1/3 cup of coconut milk over medium high heat in a heavy bottom pot until the oil starts separating, don't worry if your coconut milk doesn't separate once heated you can proceed with the next step .(some coconut milk contains emulsifier so they don't separate easily)
add your curry paste to the pot and sauté it until the oil starts oozing out from the paste.
add your remaining coconut milk and bring everything to a simmer.
add your mushrooms, salt, tamarind and kaffir lime leaves at this stage to the pot.
you can adjust the seasoning at this point, you may need to add some more tamarind depending on its sourness.
serve hot with some rice or Malaysian roti, ENJOY!
