Varanga

Name: Varanga
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 140 min
Total time: 150 min
Cuisine: Malagasy
Ingredients: 1.2 kg beef chuck or brisket; 1 onion; 6 garlic cloves; 30 g fresh ginger; 2 tsp salt; 1 tsp ground black pepper; 1.5 l water; 2 tbsp sunflower oil

Crisp shredded beef

Varanga: Highland beef simmered until it falls apart, then shredded and fried crisp in its own fat

Features:

High protein Dairy free

Cuisine:

Malagasy

Varanga belongs to the big occasions of the Merina Highlands: family reunions, famadihana gatherings and long lunches outside Antananarivo, where a mound of it sits beside rice and a bowl of greens. Beef, traditionally zebu, is simmered with garlic, ginger and onion until it can be pulled apart with two forks, then the strands are fried in the fat and juices left in the pot until crisp and mahogany at the edges but still tender inside. The flavour is deeply beefy and salty-sweet, a little like the best bits stuck to a roasting tin. Cooks in a hurry shred the meat before it is truly tender, and the strands then fry up tough and stringy instead of crisp. Chef's tip: choose a cut with some fat and connective tissue, like chuck or brisket; lean steak gives dry, hard varanga.

Total time: 150 min
Difficulty: medium
Serves: 6

One step at a time, big text, timers, read-aloud. Your screen stays on.

Ingredients

Serves6

2 ⅝ lb beef chuck or brisketin 2 or 3 large pieces, some fat left on
1 onionhalved
6 garlic clovescrushed
1 oz fresh gingersliced
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
6 ¼ cups waterenough to just cover the meat
2 tbsp sunflower oilonly if the beef is lean

Shop this recipe on Amazon

Spices & pantry

Fresh ingredients (3)

Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.

Method

0/7 done

Step 1: Put 2 ⅝ lb beef chuck or brisket, 1 onion, 3 garlic cloves, 1 oz fresh ginger and 2 tsp salt in a heavy, wide pot and pour in 6 ¼ cups water so the meat is just covered.
Step 2: Bring to the boil, skim off any grey foam, then turn the heat down, cover and simmer very gently until the beef pulls apart easily with two forks.
110 min
Step 3: Take the lid off and boil hard until the liquid has almost all evaporated and only fat and sticky juices are left in the pot. Lift out the beef first if it starts to catch.
15 min
Step 4: Remove the onion and ginger. Shred the beef into thin strands with two forks, discarding any gristle.
Step 5: Return the strands to the pot over a medium-high heat with the rest of 3 garlic cloves. If there is less than 2 tablespoons of fat, add 2 tbsp sunflower oil.
Step 6: Fry, turning and pressing the meat against the base now and then, until a good part of it is crisp and dark brown at the edges but still moist inside.
12 min
Step 7: Season with 1 tsp ground black pepper, taste for salt and serve hot with rice and greens.

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 390 kcal
Protein: 44 g
Carbs: 2 g
Fat: 23 g
Fibre: 0 g

Nutrition values are estimates.

Recipe by

KrazyBadal

All recipes by this chef →

Good to know

How long does varanga take?: About 150 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 140 minutes to cook.
How many people does it serve?: 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
Is it gluten free?: Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
What can I use instead of onion?: 2 shallots per onion.
What can I use instead of garlic cloves?: ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.

Rate this recipe

Pork souvlaki

This is a pork recipe. Walk through any Greek town after dark, from Athens to Thessaloniki, and the smell of souvlaki stands drifts down the street; cubes of pork shoulder grilled on thin skewers are the country's favourite cheap supper, eaten standing up or at a plastic-table taverna. At home you marinate the meat in lemon, olive oil, garlic and dried oregano, grill it hard and fast, and pile it on warm pitta with tzatziki, tomato and red onion. Chef's tip: cut the pork into even 2.5 cm cubes and leave a little fat on; lean loin dries out, shoulder stays juicy over high heat.

32 min

Greek Meat

by KrazyBadal 1 views

Pfälzer SaumagenStuffed pig's stomach

Saumagen is the pride of the Palatinate, served at wine-village festivals and family dinners from the Haardt hills to Ludwigshafen. A cleaned pig's stomach is stuffed with diced pork shoulder, pork sausage meat, potato and carrot seasoned with marjoram and nutmeg, poached slowly, then sliced thick and fried until crusty. The stomach works only as a casing and is ordered from a butcher; if you can't get one, bake the same filling in a covered terrine in a water bath. Serve with sauerkraut and mashed potato. Chef's tip: fill the stomach only three-quarters full, or it bursts as the potatoes swell.

225 min

German Meat

by KrazyBadal 1 views

Chha goshtLamb in buttermilk gravy

Up in the hill villages of Himachal Pradesh, where flocks are walked to summer pastures, lamb is often cooked in chhaachh, the thin buttermilk left after churning butter. Thickened with a spoonful of gram flour, it makes a pale, gently sour gravy that is milder and lighter than the red curries of the plains, and it is a favourite at dhams, the festive meals of the Kangra and Chamba valleys. Serve it with steamed rice or makki ki roti. Chef's tip: whisk the gram flour into the buttermilk until there are no lumps before it goes near the pot; once it hits the heat, any lumps stay lumps.

105 min