Klungkung, Ancient Kingdoms

Serombotan :
Vegetarian food from Klungkung

Serombotan is a typical Balinese dish consumed particularly by the community in the Klungkung Regency. The vegetable ingredients for this special dish can always be found in the gardens of any house in the Klungkung Regency. The local people are never bored with this food that has been passed down from generation to generation. Serombotan is not only popular among the local community but it is also a popular meal sold in various warung (small shops or food stalls) at markets, along the streets or in the restaurants around Klungkung town centre and even around Bali.

According to Ni Wayan Muspani (31 years old) who lives in Denpasar, serombotan is often served at wedding receptions, syukuran (an event to express gratitude to God) or on special day celebrations besides being available on menus for everyday consumption. On ceremonial occasions, this dish is usually served separately so that it is easily available. “Guests often just take the serombotan without rice or other side dishes. They will also mix the vegetables by themselves so that the spices can be according to taste”, she said.
For the last ten years this kind of food has not only been available in the Klungkung region but also in Denpasar. We can find this food in Kreneng, Sanglah, Uma Anyar markets and it also usually sold at roadside food stalls such as along Ahmad Yani Street, Denpasar. Along the road of Denpasar – Sangeh there are two serombotan sellers who come from Klungkung.
They usually sell serombotan from a very simple stall that can be moved from place to place, usually in the afternoon. The serombotan sellers also sell other dishes to attract consumers, like tipat (rice cake boiled in a rhombus-shaped packet of plaited young coconut leaves), rujak (a kind of fruit salad with a pungent dressing), young coconut ice, and various snacks like rempeyek (a kind of thin chip made from flour and peanuts, shrimp, or small fish) or kerupuk (chips made from flour, flavoured with fish and shrimp), and fried or boiled nuts.
It is not only the Klungkung community who are fond of eating serombotan, most people around Bali are also fond of this vegetarian food. This can be proved by the fact that the small stalls selling this kind of food are never short of customers. According to Ni Wayan Nurati, the serombotan seller at Ahmad Yani Street, she is sometimes overwhelmed serving customers who always come in groups. “I start selling at 11.00am because that is the time for employees, both government and private, to take a rest”, she explained.
Ni Wayan Sulastri, the sister of Ni Wayan Nurati, has another story. She added that the busiest time is from 11.30am to 13.00pm. At these peak times they usually ask their children to help. “I have to involve my children in this business because I can not hire employees yet because there isn’t much profit to be made,” they both agreed.
Serombotan ingredients are all taken from the garden. They include kinds of vegetables such as long beans (kacang panjang), spinach (bayam), a leafy vegetable which grows in water (kangkung), green nut sprouts (kecambah), bitter gourd (pare), eggplant (terong), been sprouts (tauge), and peanuts (kacang tanah). While the sauce includes a small, very pungent kind of chilli (cabe), ginger (jahe), garlic (bawang putih), shrimp paste (terasi), citrus fruit (jeruk lemo), grated coconut (kelapa parut), and other spices.
The cooking method is as follows. The vegetables like kacang panjang, bayam, kangkung, and pare are sliced and then boiled separately. The eggplant is also sliced but together with the been sprouts they are left uncooked. The peanuts are fried till cooked.
There are two sauces used here, a liquid sauce and a dry, crispy one. The first sauce is made from chilli, garlic, and shrimp paste that is ground. This mixture is added to water and mixed, then fried till cooked. The roasted coconut is grated and mixed together with the mixture of garlic, ginger, and salt.
The vegetables and the flavourings are usually served separately because the consumers will choose the ratio of vegetable and sauce according to taste. This food is served by putting the boiled vegetables together with the uncooked ones and fried peanuts on a plate with a sprinkling of grated coconut. The liquid flavouring is then added, as well as squeezed lemon. The ingredients are mixed together before being eaten.
Typical Klungkung serombotan uses raw peanuts while the serombotan that is sold in Denpasar uses fried ones. (Budarsana)