Don’t Get It Wrong, Here Are Tips on How to Choose A Good Kluwek

Choosing the right kluwek (football fruit, Pangium edule) for cooking spices is important, because kluwek is used to flavor the food that we will cook. If we can’t tell the difference between good and bad kluwek, then the dishes will not taste better. The distinctive taste extracted from good kluwek will not appear if the kluwek is in bad condition. Therefore, it is necessary to have skills in order to choose a good kluwek.

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It actually is easy to choose a good kluwek. These following tips are quoted from Professor Nuri Andarwulan, Researcher at the Southeast Asian Food and Agriculture Science and Technology (Seafast) Center, published on the DIKTI page. Prof. Nuri said that choosing a good kluwek is relatively easy.

Shake Kluwek

He revealed that a good kluwek is one whose seed coat is separated from the flesh. Therefore, try to shake the kluwek and hold it close to the ear. If there is a collision from the inside, it can be ascertained that the kluwek is good to use.

It Doesn’t Taste Bitter 

Good kluwek is not bitter. According to Prof. Nuri, a good kluwek is that when you taste it, it doesn’t taste bitter. If it still tastes bitter when tasted, according to him, there may still be residual cyanide in the kluwek. Before use, it should be cleaned or boiled first.

Shell Color

A good kluwek has a shiny jet black or dark red-black shell. Apart from that color, most likely the kluwek is already ugly. Regarding the shell, the Professor who is also Professor of the Department of Food Science and Technology (ITP) of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology (Fateta) of IPB University added, when buying kluwek, do not choose kulwek whose shells are damaged or have been opened. This has the possibility that the contents of the kluwek seeds have been oxidized so that they could be rancid or worse, dry and no longer contain oil.

Fresh Kluwek Fruits Contain Cyanide

Prof. Nuri also confirmed that the kluwek fruit does contain cyanide. According to him, fresh kluwek or picung contains a fairly high cyanogenic glycoside compound. This compound can release cyanide acid which is dangerous for anyone who consumes it. Therefore, kluwek requires a long process before it can be used as a seasoning.

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generally, kluwek cultivators will store the picung fruit until it rots. After that the fruit and seeds are separated. Then the seeds undergo a thorough cleaning process by washing. After being washed, the seeds will be boiled to further remove the toxic content attached to the seed coat. Then the seeds are drained. Seeds that are clean will be buried in ashes for approximately 40 days. In addition to neutralizing the poison completely, this immersion is done to bring out the delicious taste that usually appears in kluwek meat. Prof. Nuri added, the immersion temperature should not be too cold because it can thwart the kluwek fermentation process, usually those that fail will turn out to be bitter.

As a cooking spice, kluwek is most popularly used as a spice for Rawon, typical of East Java menu. However, kluwek is not only go with rawon, there are many other menus, which also use kluwek. The menus include Sambal Picung, Brongkos, Sop Konro, and many more. Want to know more about dishes with kluwek? We will discuss further in the next articles, Jamupedia friends.