Kluwek/Keluwek

The black nut of kluwek comes from kepayang tree, which grows wild in Indonesia and Malaysia. These two countries treasure this hard-shelled seed, which they include in many of their distinctive dishes, such as rawon, the East Javanese beef stew, and in Malay’s chicken/pork buah keluak, pork being the favored Peranakan version.

The tree itself, which is said to possess anthelmintic and narcotic properties, is also capable of causing death. In other words, the pale ‘meat’ of raw kluwek is poisonous. These seeds are edible after the poisonous hydrocyanic acid is removed by soaking and boiling them in water. Fermented kluwek nuts become chocolate-brown, greasy and very slippery.