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Serunding Kelapa Ikan & Ulam-ulaman
Serunding Kelapa Ikan or Sambal Kelapa Ikan and Ulam-ulaman are two Malaysian dishes to company Nasi Kerabu or any other Nasi set. The flavour of toasted coconut (kelapa) and fish is teased me to not snack it as it is. When we mix Serunding Kelapa Ikan and Ulam-ulaman, they remind me of Urab or Urap-urap in Indonesia. The only different is no fish added in urab or urap-urap.

In Indonesia, we have a similarity of toasted shredded coconut which we call “Serundeng”. It’s just one alphabet different 🙂

I like toasting the shredded coconuts a bit darker compare the Malaysian version has for its Serunding Kelapa Ikan as it has more smoky flavour and longer shelf life.

Serunding Kelapa Ikan & Ulan-Ulaman
Malaysian Coconut Fish Floss & Mixed Herb Veggies
Ingredients:
Serunding Kelapa Ikan or Sambal Kelapa Ikan
1 Indian mackerel, cleaned
1 slice asam gelugur (dried wild mangosteen)
170 g (6 oz) grated coconuts
6 small shallots
2 lemongrass
Himalayan pink salt and canesugar to taste
Ulam-Ulaman
Vietnamese coriander (Persicaria odorata, known as daun kesum, rau răm)
wild betel leaf (Piper sarmentosum, known as daun kaduk, daun sirih dudu)
turmeric leaf (fresh, only if you have. I don’t have a fresh one), thinly sliced
bean sprouts, cleaned the roots
winged beans (kacang botol or kecipir), thinly sliced
Chinese long beans (kacang panjang), thinly sliced
Taiwan cabbage, thinly sliced
cucumber, diced
Cooking Instructions:
Separate lemonggrass. Take the white parts to be chopped and mixed with Serunding. Do not throw away the rest! Use them together to boil the fish.

Parboiling Fish:
In a wok, bring water to a boil. Add fish, the remaining parts of lemongrass that won’t be used for serunding, asam gelugur and salt to season. Cook for another 5 minutes.
Serunding Kelapa Ikan:
Frozen grated coconuts are more accessible in Canada than fresh grated coconuts. I have been using the same grated coconut brands since I lived in Winnipeg. Visit this link to see what grated coconut brand I use. Thaw grated coconut prior to use.

At a low heat, toast grated coconuts in a wok.
Shred the parboiling fish into smaller pieces
Slice shallots, pour over some pinches of salt and let it sit for couple minutes to soften the shallot taste if you like.
Grind shallots and chopped white parts of lemongrass together. Add fish and grind roughly.
Take a pinch of canesugar and mix well. Taste. Add more sugar or salt if you need. In this case, I don’t add more salt.