HTT343 Travel Writing & Photography Project

by : Natirah & Afifah

Assalamualaikum. Hello people, today is just another mundane Sunday and we decided to do a blog about most people nowadays don't usually seek on search engines. can you guess? the hint is it is related with culture and its for making food. TETTT... you are late and we don't like waiting... so we are talking about KERISIK....

Kerisik is used in Malaysian and Singaporean cooking. Coconut is grated, toasted, then ground to a paste. it sometimes referred as coconut butter. it can be made at home or bought ready made. it is used in dishes such as kerabu salads, pajri and gulai.

we have met the owner of kerisik producer in Selangor. so, we did a simple interview with them. The brand name of their kerisik is Kerisma Kerisik Asli. Kerisma (Kerisik Mama). the owner of Kerisma is the two lovely old couple, Pn. Hajah Siti Rahmah Binti Mohamed Ali, 70 years old. born on 21 January 1947 and she used to work as a clerk in a private sector (kerani swasta). and her husband, Tuan Haji Marjohan Bin Marjani, 75 years old. Born on 27th October 1941 and he is a goverment pensioner (pesara kerajaan). they started the business in 2002 which they were inspired by Uwan (Pn Hjh Rahmah) after receiving requests by the local santan company. Atok ( Hj Marjohan) realized that there are many coconut scattered under the tree. as he thought it could generate income. the process of making the kerisik is based in their own house, Taman Sri, Batang Kali, Selangor.

so what exactly is the specialty of this kerisik? 

• it has creamy-taste, not bitter at all
• can last long and wont get moldy
• not slightly stale, always fresh
• no preservatives
• only use coconut *kelapa tua*
• become the people's choice in that particular area.
• use kepala pantai and kelapa kampung

Kerisma usually gain high requests for certain events such as serve rendang in weddings, serving pajri in weddings and also for cooking at restaurants. they receive many regular customers especially on Eid (Hari Raya). Customers love Kerisma because it is creamy and smells good. if some people wants to place an order but it is out of stock, they will be very disappointed because they prefer Kerisma's kerisik instead of others. 

Uwan and Atok joined uitm events for Program Anak Angkat and taught them to make kerisik starting from A-Z. The process of making kerisik are :.....,

Atok is scrapping the coconut

the freshly shredded coconut

after the coconuts are scrapped, they are then fry in a big kuali (without oil) until light brown in colour and crispy. it takes 1- 1 hour 15 minutes to fry 20 coconuts.  

fried shredded coconut

the fried coconuts are then put in the blender/grinding machine and grind until oil emerge and appears oily.

it is ready for use.

Kerisma Kerisik Asli ready for sale

The tools required for this process are : 

Tembilang Pengupas Kelapa

Blending/Grinding Machine

• Machine to grate coconut (mesin parut kelapa)
• wok (kuali)
• parang

20 coconuts are @ RM2.40 each. The delivery for Kerisma is once per week which the profit they get is RM80. The pricing starts with RM1.60 for a small cup (70g) and RM4 for big cup (150g) and RM26 for 1Kg. 

The difficulties faced of this business are ; - 

• difficulty to find a good quality kelapa tua & kelapa pantai
• coconuts are pricey/expensive
• age factor *since both of them are senior citizens at age 70+ :'( *