Serundeng


Serundeng is an Indonesian spicy fried coconut flakes, which is made from sautéing grated coconut, and is often used as a side dish to accompany rice.

Ingredients

Grated coconut flesh forms the essential part of serundeng. Freshly shredded coconut, instead of grated coconut left over from making coconut milk, gives a richer taste. The coconut flesh should be young coconut but has firm texture, and grated to create a long bits. To make serundeng, spices and seasonings like onions, chili peppers, garlic, onion, coriander, turmeric, sugar, tamarind, bay leaves, lime leaves, and galangal are ground to a paste and fried. Then, grated coconut is sauteed 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, sprinkled on top of other dishes such as soto soup, ketupat or covering all over ketan.
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.
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.