Kue Cucur – Indonesian Traditional Dessert

Kue Cucur is one of the popular sweet desserts that has passed many generations in Asia, especially Indonesia. Its coconut sugar flavor and the soft honeycomb texture makes it very a very unique dessert.

This round shape brown dessert called Kue Cucur is very popular to many generations in Indonesia. This sweet dessert has spread from Java island to Sumatra, Kalimantan, and even Sulawesi island.

In Asia, you can also find kue cucur in Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Thailand, Srilanka, and India.

The name varies from kuih cucur in Malaysia, pinjaram in Sabah, and penyaram in Sarawak. Malaysia even has several variants like cucur badak, cucur berlauk, coconut sugar cucur, and Javanese cucur.

Several names for kue cucur are khanom fak bua or khanom chuchun in Thailand, kuih pinyaram in Brunei, neyyappam in India.

Kue Cucur in Indonesia

Kue cucur in Indonesia  were brought by travellers to Indonesia long time ago. Unfortunately here was no written literature about it, even though it was suspected from India.

Kue cucur becomes traditional dessert/snack served during traditional ceremonies. It is easy to make and the ingredients are easy to get.

The name cucur comes from the way of making it. It is dripped in a pan of hot oil. Dripping in Betawi language is ngocor or ngucur, thus the name cucur is used.

What Does Kue Cucur Taste Like?

Kue Cucur is brown from the palm sugar in it. The rim of Kue Cucur is crispy and towards the center you will feel it getting tender.

In fact, the center part is thicker than the sides. It has a bit of honeycomb texture from the one hour fermentation.

Even though some people are afraid of the oily look, it is certainly a very nice snack. It has caramel, nutty flavor from the palm sugar.

Traditional Ceremonies Snack

During special traditional ceremonies such as baby hair cutting, wedding ceremonies, kue cucur is served as snack.

This snack is also served in marriage proposal ceremony in Java / Madura or as offerings in religious ceremonies, rice harvest, etc.

Even in some remote places, to be able to make a good kue cucur is considered as one of the requirements to get married.

So, even though it looks simple, this cake has a very important role in Indonesia and Asian traditional ceremonies.

Variations

There are now many variations for kue cucur. It can be mixd with pandan extract. If you want to use pandan extract, you need to substitute the coconut sugar with white sugar, so the color can turn out green beautifully.

If you use white sugar, you can also use many colorings to make the dessert more colorful. But then, the original flavor of coconut sugar is missing here.

Kue Cucur Recipe

• 125 gr rice flour
• 100 gr all-purpose flour
• 140 gr coconut sugar
• 50 gr white sugar
• 250 ml water
• 1 pcs pandan leaves
• ¼ tsp salt

How To Make Kue Cucur

1. Boil water with coconut sugar, sugar, pandan leaves, and salt until all the sugar dissolves. Let it cool for a while.
2. Mix rice flour and all-purpose flour in a bowl. Pour in sugar mixture into the flour. Whisk and mix with a mixer low speed for 5 minutes.
3. Let the batter rest for one hour. Whisk it again. If you think it is too thick, you can add a little more water.
4. Pour 1 ladle of the batter in a pan with hot oil. Use low heat. Pour some oil to the middle of the batter. Fry until it is completely done.
5. You may flip it when one side is done and the edges are curled up.
6. Test with a bamboo stick. Poke the center part as it is the thickest part.

Storage

Kue Cucur is best eaten on the day it is made. You can still enjoy the crunchiness of the rim and the chewy texture of the center part.

Note

A successful cucur dessert will have some pores and lines. It will look like it has bubbles.

Since it uses  a lot of oil in the frying process, I suggest you use healthy oil like coconut oil to fry.

This Indonesian dessert has a fragrant smell from the coconut sugar and pandan leaves. You can also make a green kue cucur with pandan extract.

If you like Indonesian desserts, you can also check several recipes like Kue Seri Muka, Pandan Serabi, and Kue Awuk.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q: What does Kue Cucur taste like?

A: Kue Cucur tastes sweet, caramel, nutty. It is an Indonesian type of pancake made of rice flour. It has crispy edges with a soft center.

Q: How is Kue Cucur different from other traditional Indonesian snacks?

A: Kue Cucur has a unique shape and color. You can see it easily among other traditional Indonesian snacks. It looks like pancake with streaks of honeycomb texture towards the center.

Q: Is Kue Cucur gluten-free?

A: Unfortunately, it is not! For gluten-free version, you need to substitute the flour with gluten-free alternatives.

Q: How long can Kue Cucur stay fresh?

A: Kue Cucur is best njoyed fresh, right after frying to enjoy the crispy edges. If you must keep it for the next day, store it in an airtight container for up to one day. Reheat in a microwave or oven or pan.

Q: Do you need a special tool to make this cake?

A: No. You just need a mixing bowl and small frying pan or wok for frying. A ladle will help you pour the batter in even sizes.

Conclusion

Kue Cucur represents traditional Indonesian snack with authentic taste of palm sugar or coconut sugar. It has unique texture with crispy edges and soft, chew center.

It is very easy to make at home and you can experience it with no special skills or tools needed. Try it yourself, just follow the steps mentioned above.

Please tag me on Instagram if you make this cute dessert, or leave a comment below.