Beef with sate babi sauce

It is basically a pot roast beef. What’s new is the sauce–a modified sate babi (Indonesian) that I found in an old Nora Daza cookbook. The tender slices of beef is topped with the sauce and garnished with caramelized onion rings.

Sate Babi is actually skewered pork cubes, grilled until lightly browned and served with a peanut butter based sauce. What I did was to use a slab of brisket slow cooked in a pot of water. I also modified the sauce to make it a little less sweet since I intended to garnish the dish with caramelized onion rings. The result was really good. But then, I guess you’ll have to try it to believe it.

Ingredients :

To make the pot roast :

750 g. slab of beef brisket
1 whole garlic
1 whole onion
8 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
salt

To make the peanut butter sauce:

4 tbsps. of chunky peanut butter
1/2 c. of light soy sauce
1/4 c. of rice vinegar
2-3 tbsps. of brown sugar
1 tbsp. of finely chopped garlic
1/2 tsp. of finely chopped ginger
2 tbsps. of finely chopped onion
1-1/2 c. of beef broth

To make the caramelized onion rings:

2 large white onions, peeled and cut into rings
1 tbsp. of butter
1 tbsp. of brown sugar

To complete the dish:

2 tbsps. of butter
2 tbsps. of steak sauce

Cooking procedure :

Place the beef in a large sauce pan or casserole. Pour enough water to cover. Add the whole garlic, whole onion, peppercorns, bay leaf and about a tablespoonful of rock salt. Bring to a boil, skimming off scum as it rises. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for about two hours or until fork tender. Remove the beef from the broth, transfer to a plate and cool. For better results, wrap in cling film and chill for about an hour before slicing to prevent the meat from crumbling.

Slice the beef thinly, about 1/4 inch thick, then cut into strips about an inch wide and four to five inches long. Set aside.

Prepare the peanut butter sauce. Mix together all the ingredients and simmer for five to ten minutes or until thick. Keep warm.

Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter in a skillet. Pan fry the sliced beef just until moistened with oil. Season with steak sauce. Lift off the skillet and transfer to individual plates.

Add another tablespoonful of butter to the skillet. Cook the onion rings in hot butter for about 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar and cook just until the sugar melts.

To assemble, ladle about 1/4 c. of peanut butter sauce on the beef slices. Top with caramelized onion rings.

Serve at once.