Beef Cheek Massaman Curry

Beef Cheek Massaman Curry
Prep Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 3 hours Servings: 4-6

A rich, fragrant Massaman curry made with wagyu beef cheeks, slow cooked for over two hours until fall-apart tender. Built from a homemade Massaman paste with dried chillies, coriander, cumin, galangal, lemongrass and shrimp paste, then braised low and slow in coconut cream and coconut milk with potatoes, roasted peanuts, palm sugar, tamarind and fish sauce.

Massaman curry is one of the most flavourful Thai curries, combining the warmth of cinnamon, cardamom and star anise with the richness of coconut cream. Wagyu beef cheeks are the perfect cut for this dish, the collagen breaks down during the long braise, creating an incredibly thick, glossy sauce that coats every piece of tender beef.

This recipe uses premium Australian wagyu beef cheeks available from The Butcher Shoppe in Cannon Hill, Brisbane. All our meats are prepared under strict 100% gluten-free practices, Queensland's only Coeliac Australia accredited butcher. Order online for home delivery across Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast with free delivery on orders over $100.

From The Butcher Shoppe
Cape Grim Beef Cheeks
Cape Grim Beef Cheeks
$21.00 ea
$21.00

Ingredients

  • 10 dried long red chillies, deseeded and soaked
  • 5 shallots, roughly chopped
  • 7 garlic cloves
  • 24g fresh galangal, thinly sliced
  • 2–3 lemongrass stalks, white part only, thinly sliced
  • 6g coriander seeds, toasted
  • 2.5g cumin seeds, toasted
  • 3.5g white peppercorns
  • 6g shrimp paste
  • 1.2g ground nutmeg
  • 0.6g ground cloves
  • 950g wagyu beef cheeks, trimmed and halved
  • 475g coconut cream
  • 475g coconut milk
  • 355g potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • 1 red onion, cut into wedges
  • 95g roasted peanuts, roughly crushed
  • 35g tamarind paste
  • 53g palm sugar, shaved
  • 60g fish sauce
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 5 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
  • 1 star anise
  • Jasmine rice, to serve
From The Butcher Shoppe
Cape Grim Beef Cheeks
Cape Grim Beef Cheeks
$21.00 ea
$21.00

Method

  1. Deseed and soak the dried chillies in hot water for 15–20 minutes until softened.
  2. Toast the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and white peppercorns in a dry pan until fragrant. Grind to a fine powder.
  3. Add the soaked chillies, shallots, garlic, galangal, lemongrass, shrimp paste, nutmeg and cloves. Pound or blitz to a smooth paste, adding a splash of water if needed.
  4. Sear the beef cheeks in a hot skillet until well browned on all sides. Set aside.
  5. In a heavy pot or cast iron, heat the thick top layer of the coconut cream over medium-high heat, stirring until it splits and the oil separates.
  6. Add the paste and fry, stirring constantly, until deeply fragrant and the oil turns reddish.
  7. Return the beef cheeks to the pot. Pour in the remaining coconut cream and all of the coconut milk. Add the cinnamon stick, bay leaves, cardamom pods and star anise.
  8. Bring to a gentle simmer, reduce heat to very low, cover and cook for approximately 2–2.5 hours until the beef cheeks are tender and yielding to a fork.
  9. Add the potatoes and red onion wedges. Continue to simmer gently, partially covered, for another 40 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through and the beef cheeks are falling apart.
  10. Stir in the tamarind paste, palm sugar and fish sauce. Taste and adjust the balance of sweet, salty and sour.
  11. Add the crushed peanuts, reserving a handful for garnish.
  12. Rest the curry off the heat for 10 minutes. Serve over steamed jasmine rice, scattered with the reserved peanuts.
Back to blog