Serundeng refers to a side dish or

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific Flavoring, flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is serv ...

to accompany rice in

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

and

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

languages. Serundeng may taste sweet, or hot and spicy according to recipe variants. Its best known variant is an

preparation of sautéed grated

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

mixed with

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

and other ingredients. The spiced shredded toasted coconut can be mixed with peanuts, and used as a condiment to add flavour, or as a garnish sprinkled upon rice-based dishes, such as steamed rice,

lontong Lontong is an Indonesian cuisine, Indonesian dish made of compressed rice cake in the form of a Cylinder (geometry), cylinder wrapped inside a banana leaf, commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Rice is rolled inside a banana leaf a ...

, ketan sticky rice, and

burasa ''Burasa'' () (also ''burasa, ''burasak'' or ''buras'') is an Indonesian rice dumpling, cooked with coconut milk packed inside a banana leaf pouch. It is similar to '' lontong'', but with a richer flavour acquired from the coconut milk. It is a ...

; or upon traditional soto soups. Serundeng can also considered as a separate dish if mixed with main ingredients, such as ''serundeng daging'' which is fried meat, usually beef, served in this serundeng spiced coconut floss.

Ingredients

Grated coconut flesh forms the essential part of serundeng in Indonesian cuisine. Freshly shredded coconut, instead of grated coconut left over from making

coconut milk Coconut milk is an opaque, milky-white liquid extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of coconut milk are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food i ...

, gives a richer taste. The coconut flesh should be young coconut with a firm texture, and grated to create long pieces. To make serundeng, spices and seasonings like onions, chili peppers, garlic, onion, coriander, turmeric, sugar, tamarind, bay leaves (''daun salam''), lime leaves (''daun jeruk purut''), and

galangal Galangal () is a common name for several tropical rhizomatous spices. Differentiation The word ''galangal'', or its variant ''galanga'' or archaically ''galingale'', can refer in common usage to the aromatic rhizome of any of four plant spec ...

are ground to a paste and fried. Then, grated coconut is sauteed (fried with minimal or without oil) until golden brown, and mixed with the seasoning paste. Roasted peanuts might be added for additional crunchy texture and taste.

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 ''Kupat'' (in Javanese and Sundanese), ''ketupat'' (in Indonesian and Malay), or ''tipat'' (in Balinese) is a Javanese rice cake packed inside a diamond-shaped container of woven palm leaf pouch, Originating in Indonesia, it is also found i ...

or covering all over ''ketan'' (

sticky rice Glutinous rice (''Oryza sativa var. glutinosa''; also called sticky rice, sweet rice or waxy rice) is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast and East Asia, and the northeastern regions of South Asia, which has opaque grains, very low amylose ...

). In

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, beef serundeng usually tastes rather sweet because of the generous addition of

coconut sugar Coconut sugar (also known as coco sugar, coconut palm sugar, coco sap sugar or coconut blossom sugar) is a palm sugar produced from the sap of the flower bud stem of the coconut palm. Other types of palm sugar are made from the Kithul palm ( Car ...

, and it is commonly associated with

Javanese cuisine Javanese cuisine is the cuisine of Javanese people, a major ethnic group in Indonesia, more precisely the province of Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java. Definition Javanese cuisine refers exclusively to the cuisine of Javanese peop ...

. Serundeng fried coconut flakes as sprinkled dry condiment is also found in Betawi cuisine of

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, and Makassar cuisine of South Sulawesi, usually applied upon ''soto'', ''ketan'', or ''burasa'' (rice in banana leaf cooked in coconut milk). In

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, the term ''serunding'' refers to

meat floss ''Rousong'' or ''yuk sung or bak hu'' ( ; ), also known as meat floss, is a dried meat product with a light and fluffy texture similar to coarse cotton, originating from China. ''Rousong'' is used as a topping for many foods, such as congee, ...

instead, and it can be mixed with grated coconut or not. In Indonesia, meat floss is called ''abon'', and serundeng clearly refers to spiced and sauteed grated coconut.

References

{{Coconut Malaysian cuisine Foods containing coconut

Ingredients

Variations

See also

References