Serundeng is an Indonesian side dish made from fresh grated coconut cooked with spice paste, palm sugar, and tamarind. We treat serundeng very similar to how Japanese treat furikake, basically just sprinkle on top of white rice to have a tasty meal.
It is not hard to make serundeng at home, but it does require a bit of patience since frequent stirring is needed at the end of the cooking process. When fresh grated coconut is unavailable, the best substitute is frozen shredded coconut.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 kg Grated Coconut
- 180 gram Palm Sugar
- 18 pcs Salam Leaves
- 1 1/2 cup Cooking Oil
- 3 tbsp Tamarind Pulp
- 12 Cloves Garlic
- 12 Cloves Shallot
- 4 pcs Lemongrass Leaves
- 8 pcs Candlenuts
- 3 tbsp Coriander Seeds
- 1 1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
- 4 Red Fresno Chilies
- 4 Dried Red Chilies
- 6 tsp Salt
INSTRUCTIONS
First step grinds or blend garlics, shallots, lime leave, candlenuts, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, fresno chilies and red chilies until smooth texture. If you don't like spicy, you can remove it from the ingredients.
After all ingredients blended, add palm sugar and tamarind pulp, mix till dissolved.
Add grated coconut, mix it well.
Add cooking oil to frying pan and preheat in low to medium flame.
Fry with low to medium heat for about 25-30 minutes with frequent stirring so as not to burnt.
After 30 minutes, until they change into golden color. Turn off heat, transfer to a large mixing bowl to cool. Remove lemongrass, leaves from the Serundeng, and then store in a clean Jar/Tupperware.
Serve in sprinkle on top of warm white rice to have a tasty meal.
Nutrition Benefits of Coconut
Coconuts are especially high in manganese, which is essential for bone health and the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, and cholesterol. They're also rich in copper and iron, which help form red blood cells, as well as selenium, an important antioxidant that protects your cells.
Variations
Serundeng can be mixed with meat in dishes such as serundeng daging (beef serundeng), sprinkled on top of other dishes such as soto soup, ketupat or covering all over ketan (sticky rice).
In Indonesia, beef serundeng usually tastes rather sweet because of the generous addition of coconut sugar, and it is commonly associated with Javanese cuisine. Serundeng fried coconut flakes as sprinkled dry condiment is also found in Betawi cuisine of Jakarta, and Makassar cuisine of South Sulawesi, usually applied upon soto, ketan, or burasa (rice in banana leaf cooked in coconut milk).
In Malaysia, the term serunding refers to meat floss instead, it can be mixed with grated coconut or not. While in Indonesia, meat floss is called abon, and serundeng is clearly referred to spiced and sauteed grated coconut.
