Description
Bistik is an Indonesian adaptation of ‘beef steak’, and is made by braising meat in a soy sauce gravy that’s later reduced to form a thick sauce. It can be made with any meat, and in this case, we’ve used lamb.
Ingredients
Scale
- 350g boneless lamb pieces
- 750 ml water
- 7 cloves
- 1” cinnamon stick
- 7 cardamom pods
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp dark or sweet soy sauce
- 3 medium-sized red onions, peeled and sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- 5 shallots, peeled and sliced
- 1” ginger, peeled and sliced
- 3 small potatoes, sliced
- ½ tsp black pepper powder.
- 2 tsp ghee
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Fill a large boiling pot with the 750ml water. Add the cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil.
- Add the lamb and some salt. Lower the heat to a simmer.
- Meanwhile, in a wok or a large pan, heat the vegetable oil over low heat. Add the ghee.
- Add the sliced onions. Sauté on low heat until brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes.
- Add the shallots until they soften. Then, add the ginger and garlic. Sauté until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
- Add the dark or sweet soy sauce, and black pepper powder.
- Pour all the contents of the boiling pot of meat into the wok or frying pan, and continue simmering for about 1 hour, or until the meat is tender.
- Then, add the potatoes until they soften.
- Increase the heat to reduce the gravy to a thick sauce.
- Turn off the heat and serve.
Notes
- It’s best to use thick slices of meat for this dish. I used chunks instead because they weren’t available at the supermarket.
- To remove scum from the lamb, I usually soak the meat in cold water first and rinse it. Then, I boil it in a bot for a few minutes until I see the scum floating on the top. I then strain it and set the meat aside.
- Kicap manis, or Indonesian sweet soy sauce, is usually used for the dish. But I don’t like sweet food, so I use dark soy sauce instead – which is why the meat here looks so black. Using kicap manis will yield a rich dark brown sauce.
Keywords: Non-spicy, Kicap manis, cardamom, cinnamon