Acorn Squash Rendang
What To Cook Today recipe - Indonesian
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 25 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 10 pieces dried red chili (soaked in warm water until soft)
- 1 red Thai chili for some heat if you like -optional
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- 5 shallots peeled
- 1/2 inch ginger root (peeled)
- 1- inch turmeric root or about 3 tsp ground turmeric powder
- 1 1/2 inches galangal root or 4 tsp of galangal powder (peeled)
- Pinch salt (to taste)
- about 2 lbs of acorn squash
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil
- 1/4 cup unsweetened grated coconut
- 1 stalk of fresh lemon grass trim the stalky ends and cut into two and bruised with heavy objects
- 6 fresh kaffir lime leaves tear each leaf a bit to release flavor
- 1 turmeric leaf optional
- 4 fresh bay leaves
- 3 cardamom
- 1 cup coconut cream
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- 1
Dry fry the grated coconut on pan until lightly golden brown. Remove from the heat and smash with pestle or heavy objects to release a bit of oil and flavor. Set aside. Blend all the ground spices ingredients into a paste, you may need to add a little bit of the water in there to get it going
- 2
You can poke the acorn squash with a fork and then microwave for 1 minute and then use a peeler to peel the skin off OR you can use a Chinese cleaver to peel the skin off, it's easier than using a regular knife I think. Once the skin is off, cut in half and then scoop out all the seeds and strings. Cut into large chunks, about 3-inch or so
- 3
Preheat a large heavy-bottomed pot. Add in the cooking oil. Stir fry the ground spices until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add grated coconut, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, turmeric leaf (if using), bay leaves, cardamom, and continue to stir fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add in squash chunks, coconut cream, bring to a gentle boil and reduce the heat to let it simmer gently, uncovered until all the liquid is almost gone and the coconut milk has reduced to oil, 20 minutes or so and the squash should be fork tender and you can see some oil separated from the liquid too, but we don't want them to turn into mush. Have a taste towards the end of boiling to see if you need more salt
- 4
Turn off the heat and serve as part of multicourse meal