What is Daging Masak Hitam?
The Malay name translates as "black cooked meat": daging is meat, usually beef, masak means to cook, hitam means black. The color comes from the soy sauce, called kicap in Malaysia. That is why you also find the dish there as daging masak kicap. In Indonesia a related braise is known as semur, seasoned with sweet soy sauce.
Dark and light soy sauce in the recipe
The card uses both kinds. The dark soy sauce is thicker, tastes slightly malty and gives the color. The light one brings the salt. The article on light and dark soy sauce explains the difference between the two and what to look for when buying.
- Substitute with kecap manis: If you use sweet Indonesian kecap manis instead of dark soy sauce, halve the palm sugar. Otherwise the sauce gets too sweet.
- Tamarind: The paste adds a fruity acidity. The article on tamarind explains how to prepare it from a block. If you have none, use 1 tsp of lime juice.
The right beef
For a braising time of 1.5 to 2 hours you need meat with connective tissue: beef chuck, shank or boneless short rib. Cut it into cubes of about 3 cm. Round or tenderloin dries out during long braising. If you want a quick stir-fried beef with soy sauce, fry thin strips of sirloin steak for 3 to 4 minutes in a wok and toss them in sauce, but that is a different dish.
How to get the braise right
Brown it dry
Pat the cubes dry with paper towels and brown them in two batches. If too many cubes sit in the pot, they release water and turn gray instead of brown.
Keep an eye on the liquid
250 ml of water is enough if the lid closes tightly and the burner is on low. Look in the pot after an hour and add 50 to 100 ml of hot water if the bottom shows through. For the last 15 minutes, take the lid off. The sauce then reduces and coats the meat in a glossy layer.
Taste
At the end, taste for three things: salt, sweetness and acidity. If it needs salt, add light soy sauce, and if it lacks freshness, a little tamarind. Fish the cinnamon stick, star anise and cardamom pods out before serving. In a pressure cooker the meat is tender after 35 to 40 minutes.
Variations and what to serve with it
If you add potato cubes to the pot in the last half hour, they soak up the sauce. For more heat, braise 2 to 3 dried chilies along with it. With chicken drumsticks instead of beef, the cooking time drops to 40 minutes. Steamed rice goes with braised meat, and the method is in how to cook jasmine rice. Cucumber slices add freshness. If you like Malaysian beef with coconut and chili, cook rendang daging next. Much like Daging Masak Hitam, Koreans braise beef in soy sauce for sogogi jangjorim.
