Kluwak substitute

Substitutes for Kluwak with ratios

1. 2Dark Miso + Unsweetened Cocoa + Tamarind

   Different taste

   Per 4 nuts: 2 tbsp dark red miso + 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder + 1 tsp tamarind paste

   The best build-it-yourself approximation, aimed at colour, bitterness and fermented depth together.

   What changes

   Best for

   rawon-style beef soup, dark braises, when kluwak is simply unavailable

   This is the closest a Western kitchen gets, and it does produce a genuinely dark, savoury, faintly bitter broth. Say what changes though: the cocoa reads as cocoa, so the soup tastes like a mushroomy, chocolate-edged beef stew rather than rawon, and the specific smoky-fermented perfume of kluwak is absent entirely. Use unsweetened cocoa, never drinking chocolate, add the miso off the boil, and taste for salt at the end.

2. 3Concentrated Dried Shiitake Liquid + Dark Soy + Palm Sugar

   Taste and texture differ

   Per 4 nuts: ¼ cup strong mushroom soaking liquid + 1 tbsp dark soy sauce + 1 tsp palm sugar

   A colour-and-umami route with no bitterness, useful if you dislike the cocoa version.

   What changes

   Best for

   beef soups, braises, vegetarian dark broths

   Soak a handful of dried shiitake in a small amount of very hot water for thirty minutes and use the liquid, not just the mushrooms. You get deep savoury flavour and a dark broth, but browner and glossier than kluwak's matte black, and it is missing the bitter chocolate note completely, so the soup tastes rich and sweetish rather than earthy and slightly bitter. Good stew, not rawon.

3. 4Black Garlic, Mashed

   Different taste

   Use About 2 cloves of black garlic for every nut

   Slowly aged garlic that has turned soft, black and molasses-like, closest to kluwak on the aged-and-dark axis.

   What changes

   Best for

   braises, marinades, sauces where the colour matters less

   The aroma family is right, since both are the product of long transformation and both smell of dried fruit and soy. Black garlic is much sweeter and distinctly balsamic and fruity, so a broth made with it tastes sweet-sour rather than bitter-earthy, and it will not turn a pot of soup properly black. Best used alongside the miso and cocoa blend rather than on its own.

4. 5Squid Ink + Dark Miso

   Different taste

   Per 4 nuts: 1 tsp squid ink + 2 tbsp dark miso

   A presentation-first option for when the black colour is what you are chasing.

   What changes

   Best for

   when appearance matters most, seafood versions

   Nothing else in a normal kitchen turns a broth as convincingly black. The problem is that squid ink brings a distinct marine, briny note that has no business in a beef rawon, so use it only in a seafood dish or accept the mismatch. It also contributes nothing bitter or chocolatey, which is why it needs the dark miso alongside it.

5. 6Cook Something Else Instead

   Taste and texture differ

   Omit and change the dish

   The recommendation nobody wants and the most honest one on this page.

   What changes

   Best for

   rawon, ayam buah keluak

   The black colour and the bitter earthiness are not garnishes in these dishes, they are the identity. A rawon without kluwak is a beef soup with lemongrass and lime leaf, which is close to soto, and soto is a wonderful dish you can make properly with ingredients you have. Making a good soto is a better evening than making a disappointing rawon, and the nuts keep almost indefinitely once you do find them, so buy a bag next time.