Rempah for rendang

Name: Rempah for rendang
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 150 g shallot, raw, peeled and roughly chopped; 60 g fresh red chilli, raw, large red chillies, stemmed and chopped (deseed for less heat); 15 g dried whole chillies, about 10, deseeded; soak in hot water 20 min, squeeze dry; 30 g garlic, raw, peeled; 30 g fresh ginger, raw, peeled and sliced; 25 g galangal, raw, peeled and sliced; 40 g lemongrass, raw, tender lower part of 3 stalks, sliced; 3 g turmeric, ground, raw (or 15 g fresh turmeric, peeled); 30 ml water, raw — only as much as the blender needs

Vegetarian

rempah rendang

A large batch of shallots blended with fresh and dried red chillies, garlic, ginger, galangal, lemongrass and turmeric. Cooked down for hours with coconut milk, this rempah becomes the dark, caramelised coating of beef rendang.

Rempah for rendang is a Malaysian condiment from Indonesia, ready in about 25 minutes and made with shallot, fresh red chilli and dried whole chillies. It serves 4 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking

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Prep: 25 min
Cook: 0 min
Total: 25 min
Serves: 4
Level: Easy
Calories: 78

Plus 20 minutes soaking the dried chillies, done while you prepare the other aromatics.

Ingredients

4 portions (about 90 g, enough for 250 g meat each)

150 g Shallot (opens in a new tab), raw, peeled and roughly chopped
60 g Fresh red chilli (opens in a new tab), raw, large red chillies, stemmed and chopped (deseed for less heat)
15 g Dried whole chillies (opens in a new tab), about 10, deseeded; soak in hot water 20 min, squeeze dry
30 g Garlic (opens in a new tab), raw, peeled
30 g Fresh ginger (opens in a new tab), raw, peeled and sliced
25 g Galangal (opens in a new tab), raw, peeled and sliced
40 g Lemongrass (opens in a new tab), raw, tender lower part of 3 stalks, sliced
3 g Turmeric (opens in a new tab), ground, raw (or 15 g fresh turmeric, peeled)
30 ml Water (opens in a new tab), raw — only as much as the blender needs

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Soak the deseeded dried chillies in just-boiled water for 20 minutes, then squeeze dry.
- 20 min
Food safety: Wear gloves or wash your hands well after handling chillies, and keep them away from your eyes.
2
Step 2
Meanwhile slice the lemongrass (opens in a new tab), ginger and galangal (opens in a new tab) thinly across the grain — fibrous roots blend far more smoothly when cut into thin coins first.
3
Step 3
Put the lemongrass (opens in a new tab), galangal (opens in a new tab), ginger and soaked chillies in the blender (opens in a new tab) first (the hard items need the blades), then the garlic (opens in a new tab), fresh chillies, turmeric (opens in a new tab) and finally the shallots (opens in a new tab).
- 2 min
- Blender (opens in a new tab)
4
Step 4
Blend, stopping to scrape down, adding the water a tablespoon at a time only as needed, until you have a smooth, thick paste with no visible fibres, 2–3 minutes. The shallots (opens in a new tab) release plenty of liquid, so you need very little water.
- 3 min
- Blender (opens in a new tab)
5
Step 5
Use at once or store. In the pot, fry the rempah in oil over medium heat for 10–15 minutes, stirring, until it darkens, smells sweet and the oil separates (pecah minyak) before adding beef and coconut milk.
- 1 min
- Glass jar with lid (opens in a new tab)

About this dish

Origin: Minangkabau, West Sumatra; also the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia · Well documentedRendang comes from the Minangkabau of West Sumatra and is cooked across Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. The proportions here are a typical household rempah for 1 kg of beef.Also popular in Malaysia, Singapore, BruneiMore food from Indonesia
Dish: Condiments, chutneys & relishes
Cooking method: Blended, Raw
Taste: spicy (chilli heat), aromatic / warmly spiced, sweet
Diet: Vegan · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Whole-food focused · Paleo-style · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-fat · Low-sodium · DASH-style
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Make-ahead · Freezer-friendly · Batch cooking
Cook more with: Shallot · Fresh red chilli · Dried whole chillies · Garlic · Fresh ginger · Galangal
Techniques: Bhunao · Wet grinding · Emulsification

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens appear in the listed ingredients.

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

78 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 95 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

Protein 12%
Carbohydrate 82%
Fat 6%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g
Energy	78 kcal	82 kcal
Protein	2.6 g	2.8 g
Carbohydrate	17.5 g	18.4 g
Net carbohydrate	—	—
Sugars	—	—
Added sugars	0 g	0 g
Fibre	—	—
Fat	0.6 g	0.7 g
Saturated fat	0.1 g	0.1 g
Trans fat	0 g	0 g
Cholesterol	0 mg	0 mg
Sodium	11 mg	12 mg
Salt equivalent	0 g	0 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 439 mg
Calcium: 43 mg
Iron: 2.5 mg
Magnesium: 31 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 46 µg
Vitamin C: 28 mg
Vitamin D: 0 µg
Vitamin B12: 0 µg
Folate (DFE): 28 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
Galangal: Fresh ginger used as a stand-in: no galangal entry in FDC SR Legacy, and galangal is a closely related rhizome used in similar small amounts.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Frying the rempah until the oil separates is the step that removes the raw shallot taste; do not rush it.
Make a double batch and freeze half — fried rempah keeps even better than raw.

Common mistakes

Adding too much water to the blender, which makes the paste steam and splutter instead of fry.
Leaving lemongrass in thick pieces, which leaves stringy fibres in the sauce.

Serve with

Beef rendang, rendang ayam (chicken), rendang tok and rendang jackfruit (rendang nangka).

Food safety

Raw garlic and shallot pastes must be refrigerated and used within a few days; freeze anything you will not use soon.
Wear gloves or wash your hands well after handling chillies, and keep them away from your eyes.

Storage

Raw rempah: covered in the fridge up to 5 days. Freeze in 90 g portions for up to 3 months. Fried-out rempah, cooled and covered with its oil, keeps 2 weeks chilled.

Variations

Rendang Padang (Minangkabau) (Indonesia): Often adds turmeric leaf and asam kandis (dried garcinia) in the pot and is cooked until completely dry and very dark.
Malaysian rendang tok (Malaysia): The Perak style adds coriander, cumin and fennel (ground) to the rempah and finishes with plenty of kerisik.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 2 Nov 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

About this masala

Type: Wet masala
Texture: Smooth paste
One batch makes: about 380 g
Keeps: 5 days
Store: Covered, in the fridge
Recipe: Traditional

Minangkabau (West Sumatra) and the Malay Peninsula. Makes Rempah (Malay spice paste), the ingredient our dish recipes list. All masalas

Used in

Amounts are each dish’s own quantity, for the servings it is written for. “Make enough” opens this recipe scaled for that dish.

Beef rendangMade fresh in the recipe (blended to a paste in step 1; lemongrass and galangal go in whole) · 345 g for 6 servingsMake enough

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Shallot, raw, peeled and roughly chopped150 g
Fresh red chilli, raw, large red chillies, stemmed and chopped (deseed for less heat)60 g

Used in step 3

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