Indonesian Beef Black Soup (Rawon)

Indonesian Beef Black Soup or Rawon is originated from East Java where my husband and my dad came from.  I have made it multiple times, but this is the first time I ever made it in a slow-cooker.  A typical Indonesian dish is rarely cooked in a slow-cooker because most of the dish are either fried or saucy (using coconut milk as the main ingredient).  When adding coconut milk in a crock-pot, somehow it doesn’t give the right texture.  I have tried in the past cooking Rawon in a slow-cooker but the beef didn’t have enough flavor.  This time I tried it again with a different method, and it turns out wonderful.

Ingredient:

• 1 lbs of beef chuck or beef shank
• Rawon instant spices.  You can use any brands like these:

  

  bamboe

  

  Indofood

  

  Munik

  
  
  

Method:

1. Stir fry the instant spices with light vegetable oil
2. Add beef, stir fry until mixed throughly in medium low heat
3. Add water into the slow-cooker.  This is the important part; reduce water by 1/2 liter.  The recipe on the back of the instant spices said to use 2 liter of water.  I reduced the water to 1 1/2 liter
4. Add the beef into the slow-cooker
5. Cook for 6 – 8 hours
6. Serve with bean sprout, Belacan chili sauce, green onion, shrimp cracker and salty duck egg (optional)

Stir frying the beef and reducing the amount of water is the key to cook flavorful Rawon in a slow-cooker.  The result?  A happy hubby, indeed.  :)