Empal Gepuk, Indonesian Fried Spiced Beef (44g Protein)
Empal gepuk is a Javanese fried beef dish, slabs of beef simmered in spices until tender, pounded flat, then pan-fried until the edges caramelize and crisp. This version gives you about 44 grams of protein per serving from lean beef, and it is one of the better dishes I know for meal prep.
The sweetness comes from palm sugar and sweet soy sauce, balanced by coriander, galangal and garlic. It sits somewhere between a braise and a fry, which is exactly why it works: the beef is already seasoned all the way through before it ever touches the pan.
Plan on about 1 hour 40 minutes, almost all of it hands off while the beef simmers. Serve it with rice, cucumber and a spoonful of sambal.
Why this works
Lean cuts like beef round or flank are tough raw, but a long gentle simmer breaks down the connective tissue and lets the spiced liquid soak right into the fibres. Pounding the cooked beef then opens up the texture so the surface area is bigger, and that extra surface is what browns and crisps in the pan. Skip the pounding and you get fried pot roast. Do it and you get the craggy, sticky edges that define the dish.
Pan-frying with only a little oil keeps the fat low. Because the beef is already cooked through, the frying step is just for crust, about 3 to 4 minutes a side.
Ingredient notes
Beef: use top round, bottom round or flank, trimmed of visible fat, cut into 4 or 5 large chunks so they cook evenly. Fattier cuts will taste richer but drop the protein per serving.
Galangal looks like ginger but tastes piney and sharper. Find it fresh or frozen at Asian grocers. If you cannot, use a slightly larger piece of ginger plus a squeeze of lime at the end. Palm sugar (gula jawa) is darker and more caramel-like than white sugar; dark brown sugar is a fine swap. Kecap manis is Indonesian sweet soy sauce. If you only have regular soy sauce, use 2 tbsp soy sauce plus 1 tbsp extra brown sugar in place of 3 tbsp kecap manis.
If you like richer, saucier beef, our Semur Daging uses a similar sweet soy profile as a stew, and the Weeknight Beef Rendang goes the coconut route.
Empal Gepuk
Ingredients
Method
- Blend or finely mince the shallots and garlic with the ground coriander and cumin to make a rough paste.
- Add the beef, spice paste, galangal, bay leaves, lemongrass, kecap manis, palm sugar, salt and water to a pot. The beef should be just covered. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer.
- Cover and simmer for 70 to 80 minutes, until a knife slides into the beef with little resistance. Add a splash of water if the liquid drops below the meat.
- Lift the beef out and set the pot of liquid aside. Let the beef cool for 10 minutes, then place a piece inside a zip bag or between plastic wrap and pound with a rolling pin to about 1 cm thick. Repeat with the other pieces.
- Boil the leftover liquid hard for 8 to 10 minutes until reduced to about 1/2 cup of thick glaze. Strain.
- Heat the oil in a large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the pounded beef for 3 to 4 minutes per side, without moving it, until deeply browned with crisp edges.
- Brush or spoon the reduced glaze over the beef in the last minute of frying. Serve with rice, cucumber and sambal.
Tips and storage
Do the simmer a day ahead. Chill the cooked beef in its liquid overnight, then pound and fry it fresh. It is easier to handle cold and the flavor is better.
Pound the beef inside a zip bag or between plastic wrap using a rolling pin or the bottom of a heavy pan. You want it about 1 cm (3/8 inch) thick, not shredded. Fry it in a hot nonstick or cast iron pan and leave it alone for a few minutes so a crust can form.
Leftover fried beef keeps 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Reheat in a dry skillet or the air fryer at 180°C (350°F) for 3 minutes so the edges re-crisp instead of going soft in the microwave. The unfried simmered beef freezes well for up to 2 months. For another sweet and savory beef dish with a very different texture, try our Xinjiang Cumin Beef.
