Since its opening in 2011, Chin Chin offered a full throttle dining experience. It’s fun and it’s always busy – but, more importantly, its food is always so good. It’s thanks to executive chef Benjamin Cooper whose creative and well-researched approach to Southeast Asian cuisine has transformed Chin Chin – in Melbourne and Sydney – into a key Australian dining destination.

The restaurant has just released its third cookbook, Always hungry. It’s full of Chin Chin signatures, including their kingfish sashimi, chilli and salt chicken wings and butter chicken. Scroll past these recipes and you’ll discover other favorites, as well as dishes inspired by Cooper and his team’s travels to Thailand and beyond. Ideal for those new to Southeast Asian cooking, it also details key pantry staples, an ingredient glossary, tips for mastering Thai cooking skills, and advice on how to season to the Thai one.

“Inside this book is a celebration of everything I love about food: the intriguing spices, the heat and fire of chili, the punch of sour notes, the bold savory depths and tempering balance gentleness,” Cooper writes at the beginning of the book. So many descriptions that could apply to the restaurant’s massaman curry, which has remained a staple for years. “It’s rich, it’s comfy and it has its own die-hard fan base. Just look at the 500+ services coming out of the pass every week.

It’s a time-consuming process, but worth it for beautifully tender beef enveloped in this creamy, spicy sauce. Just make sure you read the method before you start.

Chin Chin massaman curry

For 4 people
Preparation time: 40 minutes, plus overnight marinating, 30 minutes soaking
Cooking time: 5 hours

Ingredients

750 g beef brisket, cut into 3 equal portions
½ cup (125 ml) kecap manis
⅓ cup (80 ml) vegetable oil
400 ml coconut cream, plus a little for garnish
Large pinch of salt
1 to 2 golden or red shallots, sliced
80 g chopped fresh pineapple
1 tablespoon grated palm sugar
70g chopped peanuts, plus 2 tbsp extra chopped for garnish
2 to 3 tablespoons of fish sauce
3 Kipfler potatoes, boiled, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces
Roti, to serve

Tamarind water (for 250 ml, this recipe requires 2 tbsp)
¼ cup (60 ml) tamarind pulp (available in “bricks” in Asian grocery stores
1 cup (250 ml hot water)

Crispy shallots (for about 1 cup, this recipe calls for 3 tablespoons)
7 to 8 red or golden shallots, thinly sliced
2 cups (500 ml) vegetable oil

Braising liquid
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 galangal nuts, chopped
1 stalk of lemongrass (pale part only), chopped
1 long red pepper, chopped
¼ red onion, chopped
1¼ cups (310 ml) coconut cream
2 cups (500 ml) water
½ cup (125 ml) chicken broth
⅓ cup (80 ml) fish sauce
50 g grated palm sugar

Massaman Curry Paste (makes about 3½ cups, this recipe calls for ⅓ cup)
10 large dried red chili peppers, soaked, seeded and chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, peeled
1 large galangal nut
1 stalk of lemongrass (white part only)
4 coriander roots, scraped and chopped
½ cup roasted peanuts
3 teaspoons of coriander seeds
2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
4 teaspoons of cloves
1 finely grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon mace powder
2 pieces of cassia bark
Seeds of a cardamom pod
Large pinch of salt

Method

Place the beef in a dish and brush everything with kecap manis. Leave to marinate for a few hours or overnight, if possible. Wipe off excess sauce, then heat a frying pan over medium heat with a little oil, add the beef and sear on all sides until browned. Cancel.

Meanwhile, to prepare the tamarind water, mix the tamarind pulp with the hot water and soak for about 30 minutes. Work the pulp with your fingers to help it dissolve. Strain, forcing out as much pulp as possible with a spoon. Discard any leftover solids. You can make some extra and freeze it in ice cube trays, then thaw and use as needed.

For crispy shallots, place the shallots or garlic slices in a wok with the cold oil. Place over medium heat and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often, until the slices are golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and spread out on a paper towel to drain. Shake out on another sheet of paper towel and rake with a fork. You want to remove as much oil as possible. You can store leftovers in an airtight container for 3 days.

Meanwhile, start the braising liquid by heating the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed baking dish over medium heat. Add the galangal, lemongrass, chili pepper and red onion. Cook, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes to release the aromas, then add the coconut cream, water, stock, fish sauce and palm sugar. Bring to a boil, ensuring the sugar dissolves, then simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

To make the curry paste, blend the chilli, onion, garlic, galangal, lemongrass, coriander root and peanuts to form a paste. Grind the rest of the ingredients and mix into the first dough. You may need to add a little water to mix well. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 2 weeks or freeze them in portions.

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Add the beef to the pan of braising liquid, then cover and place in the oven. Braise for about 3 hours or until very tender. Turn off the heat and let the brisket cool in the liquid. Once cooled, remove the beef, reserving the liquid, and cut it into large pieces.

Add half the coconut cream, 2 tablespoons of oil and a large pinch of salt to a heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Once the cream begins to separate and the oils separate, add the curry paste and increase the heat slightly. You will immediately start to smell the spices cooking, but since the dough is made up of mostly hard ingredients, it will take some time to cook properly (about 1 hour). The dough will also start to divide when it is almost done. While cooking, keep stirring the curry so it doesn’t stick to the pan and burn.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a separate pan and slowly fry the shallot until golden brown. Add the pineapple and cook for about 15-20 minutes until candied, then add the palm sugar and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the pineapple and shallot caramel to the curry paste. This will reincorporate the dough for a while, so you will need to continue cooking until the oil separates again.

Add ½ cup (125 mL) of the reserved braising liquid and bring to a boil. Stir in the remaining coconut cream, peanuts and half of the fish sauce and tamarind water. Simmer for 5 minutes to give the sauce a nutty flavor, taste to check seasoning and balance with fish sauce and/or tamarind water if necessary. You might even like to add a little extra coconut cream.

Add the potato and simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in the beef and simmer for a few minutes, making sure the meat is hot.

Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with coconut cream, crispy shallots and peanuts and serve with roti on the side.

This is an edited extract from Always hungry with recipes from Benjamin Cooper, out nowRRP$55.