Massaman Beef Roast Dinner

To prepare, preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F).

Place a large frying pan over high heat and add the vegetable oil. Add beef cheeks to pan and sear on one side for 4–5 minutes or until a nice crust is formed. Flip and repeat on the over side. Transfer the beef cheeks to a deep baking dish (make sure you reserve all those lovely pan juices) and season generously all over with sea salt.

Add the curry paste to the pan juices and turn the heat back onto medium. Stir and warm through the curry paste for 1 minute to release all the aromas until it all starts smelling beautiful. Now go in with the coconut milk, fish sauce and 1 cup of water. Stir and continue cooking until the mixture just simmers, adding a little more fish sauce to taste if needed. Pour the curry sauce over the top of the beef cheeks. Cover the baking dish with a layer of baking paper, followed by a layer of foil, then transfer to the oven. Cook for 6 hours or until cheeks are fall-apart tender.

Meanwhile, for the super-crispy roast potatoes, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Cook potatoes for 10 minutes or until tender, then drain in a strainer. Cover potatoes with a tea towel and vigorously shake to rough up the edges and make them craggly – this will help them get nice and crispy. Allow the potatoes to completely cool and dry out under the tea towel.

Place the lard In a separate large saucepan or frying pan over medium-high heat until the lard has melted and is hot.

Carefully add the potatoes to the hot lard. Moving them around constantly, cook the potatoes for 5 minutes until the edges are ultra crispy and golden brown. Transfer to a tray lined with paper towel and sprinkle with some sea salt.

Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Cook green beans for 2 minutes or until tender, then drain.

Remove beef cheeks from the oven and transfer to serving plates. Whisk the remaining sauce until well incorporated, then drizzle over beef cheeks. Serve with crispy potatoes and green beans.