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Oseng-Oseng Mercon: Yogyakarta “Firecracker” Beef

Oseng-Oseng Mercon: Yogyakarta ‘Firecracker’ Beef

  • Author: Nunuk Sri Rahayu
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Beef & Lamb
  • Method: Sauté
  • Cuisine: Indonesian
  • Diet: Halal

Description

Oseng-oseng mercon is an ultra-spicy, semi-dry gravy beef dish consisting of boiled beef chunks sautéed in aromatic spices like galangal, lemongrass, and tons of chillies.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 500 gr beef chunks (use shank or brisket)
  • 50 gr bird’s eye chillies
  • 5 big red chillies, chopped
  • 8 shallots, peeled, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped
  • 3 cm fresh galangal, chopped
  • 1 lemongrass, use only the white part, bruised, knotted
  • 2 salam leaves (Indonesian bay leaf)
  • 0.5 tsp roasted shrimp paste
  • 0.5 tbsp palm sugar, shaved
  • 0.5 tsp white pepper powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauces
  • 3 tbsp cooking oil
  • Water for boiling

Instructions

  1. Boil the beef chunks with enough water (around 1.5 lt) until tender (around 1 hr), set aside.
  2. Using a blender or food processor, blend into a smooth paste: bird’s eye chillies, big red chillies, shallots, garlic and fresh galangal.
  3. In a big wok, heat the cooking oil over medium high heat.
  4. Fry the blended spices until fragrant, around 2 minutes, then add lemongrass and salam leaves.

    Fry the blended spices

  5. Add the shrimp paste, palm sugar, white pepper powder and salt.
  6. Continue frying for another 3-4 minutes.
  7. Add the meat and a little bit of the stock (around 100 ml).
  8. Add the sweet soy sauce and oyster sauce.

    Add the sweet soy sauce and oyster sauce

  9. Cook all the ingredients until all the liquids have evaporated and the meat is tender (around 25-40 minutes), stir regularly to avoid burning.

    Cook all the ingredients until all the liquids have evaporated

  10. If necessary, add a little bit more stock if the meat is not tender yet, but the gravy has already dried out.
  11. Transfer to a serving plate, and enjoy with plenty of rice. 

    Transfer the dish to a serving plate


Notes

  • Feel free to add or reduce the amount of chillies according to your preference. To make it more potent, add several whole bird’s eye chillies towards the end of the cooking process (just like I did).
  • The dish will taste even better overnight.

Keywords: Spicy, galangal, lemongrass