The market · Nuts and seeds · Southeast Asia

Kerisik

Toasted grated coconut, pounded until it turns to an oily, nutty paste.

toasty · nutty

What to do with it

Classics built on it
MinangkabauRendangBeef simmered in coconut milk and spice paste for hours, until the liquid is gone and the meat fries in what's left.2 versions hereMalaysianNasi kerabuRice dyed blue with butterfly pea flowers, eaten with finely shredded herbs, kerisik, fish or chicken, budu and sambal.No one here has made it yet

If you can't find it

Malaysian grocers in jars — but it's easy to make.

  1. 1Homemade kerisik
    The same weight: dry-toast desiccated coconut slowly to deep brown, then pound until it turns oily
    You lose nothing — it's better fresh.

Goes with

coconut milkbeef shinchilli

Cooked with, here

beef shincoconut milkdried chilligalangallemongrassshallot
Put with it only once, though they're used elsewhere here — where experiments start:
scotch bonnet

How much, here

3.5–3.5% of the dish by weight — a place to start.

Beef rendang90g kerisik, pounded fineIbu Sari · 3.5% of the dishRendang, the Lagos way90g kerisik, pounded fineTolu Adeyemi · 3.5% of the dish

What cooks here have learned

“Back to shin, and the kerisik pounded fine”Ibu Sari · Beef rendang v7

Knowing it

Where to buy
Jars from Malaysian and Indonesian grocers — or make it.
A little history
A Malay and Minangkabau technique: it thickens rendang and gives it its dark, roasted depth.
Worth knowing
Toast desiccated coconut in a dry pan, stirring, until deep gold — then pound or blend while warm.

Kitchens that keep it in

West Sumatra, IndonesiaMinangkabauThe cooking of the Minang highlands: chilli, coconut and time, and the source of the Padang restaurants found across Indonesia and Malaysia.10 classics · 3 cooked here

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