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1
Crack the keluak nuts. Scoop the black flesh into a bowl, cover with warm water and rinse briefly. Work the flesh with the fingers until it forms a smooth, dense paste. The paste should be uniformly black and free of fibrous shell fragments.
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2
Combine the keluak paste with the shallots, garlic, galangal, turmeric, ginger, candlenuts and ground coriander. Grind to a concentrated bumbu using a stone mortar or blender. The paste must be completely smooth; a coarse paste will not release full colour into the broth.
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3
Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the bumbu and fry, stirring constantly, until the paste darkens further, loses its raw smell and the oil begins to separate and pool at the edges — the mark that the paste is cooked through.
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4
This is where the dish lives or dies. The keluak proportion in this version is higher than in standard rawon. The fried bumbu must be cooked long enough that the black colour is fully extracted and the paste is deeply fragrant before the liquid is added; an undercooked bumbu at this stage produces a raw, bitter broth that cannot be corrected later.
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5
Add the beef cubes to the pot and turn to coat in the bumbu. Add the water, bruised lemongrass stalks and kaffir lime leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook until the beef is completely tender and yields without resistance when pressed — at least 90 minutes, longer for shin.
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6
Taste and adjust salt. The broth should be jet-black, intensely savoury and rounded — not bitter, not thin. Skim any excess fat from the surface. The soup is ready when a spoonful coats the back of the ladle with a dark, glossy film.
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7
Ladle the broth and beef over rice in deep bowls. Finish each portion with blanched bean sprouts, sliced green onions, fried shallots and a halved salted duck egg alongside. Serve the raw chilli sambal separately. The bowl arrives at the table very dark — nearly opaque.