Dendeng Pedas ('hot' Fried Beef)

Recipe Instructions * Cut the beef fairly thin and trim it into small, square pieces. Marinate it for 1 hour or longer. Remember that pedas=hot++spicy hot! This is fried beef, with a robust flavor of chile. Slice the shallots finely. Seed and slice the chilies. Fry them in a tablespoonful of oil, in a wok, stirring all the time until they are golden brown. Add salt to taste. Keep hot. Put a tablespoonful of oil in a thick frying-pan, and fry the slices of meat a few at a time. Three minutes on each side will be ample*. When all the pieces are cooked, put them into the wok with the shallots and chile. Heat, and mix well. Sprinkle over the mixture 1 tablespoonful of lemon juice, or, better still, fresh lime juice. Stir, and add more salt if necessary. Serve hot, with rice. * NOTE: In Indonesia, the meat is usually fried until crisp. You can even buy sun-dried dendeng which only needs coating with bumbu and frying. Crisp dendeng can be rather tough, and I prefer it as described above; however, a purist might say that my recipe is not 'genuinely' Indonesian. Makes 6 servings. From "Indonesian Food and Cookery", Sri Owen, Prospect Books, London, 1986. " ISBN 0-907325-29-7.