When I discovered Indonesian Foods YouTube channel, I can’t wait to try most of the Indonesian recipes she demonstrated. Most of the dishes can be modified to Paleo as long as you omit the sugar, beef/chicken bouillon etc. And did I tell you that I finally bough my own Magic Bullet blender after seeing her using it to make her own herb paste?

After coupons, discounts and mail in rebate, this baby only costs me $16.00! BIG SCORE!
Anyway back to the recipe. I decided to try making Rawon (ruh-won) (Indonesian Beef Black Soup).

One main ingredient that you need is this keluwak/kluwak nuts.

According to Recipes Wiki:

Kluwak nuts come from the kepayang tree (Pangium edule) of Indonesia & Malaysia, a member of the flacourtia family (Flacourtiaceae). The oily, hard-shelled seeds superficially resemble Brazil nuts. Meaty seeds are edible after the poisonous hydrocyanic acid is removed by soaking and boiling them in water. Fermented kluwak nuts become chocolate-brown, greasy and very slippery. Cooked seeds are used in a number of popular Malaysian and Indonesian dishes.

When harvested from the tree, the kluwak is not ready to be used. It needs to be fermented for sometime, due to its poison. The process of fermentation is done after the kluwak is boiled in hot water for sometime and then they are buried in the ground. The humidity of the soil helps the process of fermentation. When ready, the meat of the kluwak will change from white colour into black, and the taste of the good and ready to use should not be bitter.

Apparently, the one I bought from 99 Ranch Market was the fermented version and ready to be used.

Rawon (Indonesian Beef Black Soup) – (adapted from Indonesian Foods)
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs beef (I used rump roast – cut in cube)
5-6 dried kluwak nuts
3-4 garlic cloves
1/2 white onion
5-6 shallots
1 inch of fresh turmeric root (or use 1 tsp turmeric powder)
1 inch of ginger root
1 inch of galangal root (white ginger) or used 2 dried galangal slices
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 stalks of lemon grass
Handful of fresh lime leaves
Salt
1/2 jicama

Directions:
1. Soak kluwak nuts in hot water

2. Make an herb paste by blending garlic, shallots, turmeric root and soaked kluwak in your blender.

3. Heat the pot with coconut oil, saute the herb paste with lemon grass, lime leaves until fragrant.

4. Add in the cut up beef, chopped jicama and water

5. Season with salt, cumin, and coriander. Turn the heat to medium low, cover and cook until the beef is tender. I used my pressure cooker so the entire cooking took about 30 minutes. Regular pot might take about 1 hour.

6. Discard the cut up jicama, adjust seasonings to taste.

Serve over cauliflower rice or any veggies of your choice! Taste even better after let sit in the fridge overnight. Enjoy!

Note: If you can’t find kluwak, you still can make this soup without it (the color might not turn as dark) but do not skimp on the other ingredients (lemon grass and lime leaves especially).

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