Plecing kangkung is blanched water spinach served cold under a fierce raw sambal of pounded red chili, tomato, shallot, garlic and shrimp paste, sharpened with a squeeze of lime. It is shared across Bali and the neighbouring island of Lombok, where it is a signature of Sasak cooking — a shared dish, claimed warmly by both. Bright green, fiery and clean-tasting, it is a near-constant side, often partnered with grilled chicken and a scatter of bean sprouts and fried peanuts.
Plecing kangkung is firmly rooted in the cooking of Bali and Lombok, and it is most strongly associated with the Sasak people of Lombok, where it accompanies the local grilled chicken, ayam taliwang. On Bali it sits beside dishes like ayam betutu. It is honest everyday and warung food rather than a ceremonial creation with a single dated origin; what travels with it everywhere is the raw plecing sambal, whose tomato-and-chili base gives the dish its name and its bite.
The greens stay crisp and vivid, their stems still snapping, while the cold raw sambal hits with chili heat, the sweet-sour edge of fresh tomato and lime, and a savoury, slightly funky base from shrimp paste. Served cool against the warmth of grilled meat, it is refreshing and aggressive at the same time — a sambal you taste long after the vegetable is gone.
Two moves matter. The water spinach is blanched briefly in well-salted water then shocked or spread to cool, which fixes its bright colour and keeps the stems crunchy instead of going limp and dark. The sambal is left raw — pounded, not cooked — so the tomato's fresh acidity, the volatile heat of the chili and the lime's aromatics stay sharp; cooking it would dull all three. Shrimp paste, even in a small amount, adds glutamate depth that ties the raw ingredients together.
Variations
Lombok versions tend to be the hottest and lean on tomato; some cooks add bean sprouts, long beans, fried peanuts or grated spicy coconut alongside the kangkung. Vegetarian cooks drop the shrimp paste, and a few finish with extra lime or a pinch of palm sugar to balance the chili.
On the Palate
Where Plecing Kangkung sits in the Indonesian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 15 min active + 10 min waiting
- 15 min
Wash the water spinach and cut into manageable lengths, separating thicker stems from leaves.
- 23 min
Bring a pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil.
- 32 min
Blanch the stems first for a few seconds, add the leaves, then lift everything out the moment it turns bright green.
Watch outBlanch the water spinach only until it flashes bright green, then lift it out — seconds too long and the stems go limp and dull.
- 43 min
Spread the greens out or shock in cool water so they stop cooking and keep their colour, then drain well.
Watch outShock or spread the greens to cool at once — stopping the cooking fixes the vivid color and keeps the stems crunchy.
- 54 min
Pound red chili, bird's eye chili, shallot, garlic and shrimp paste into a coarse paste.
Watch outPound the sambal raw, never cooked — heat dulls the tomato's fresh acidity, the chili's punch, and the lime's aroma all at once.
- 63 min
Add chopped tomato and pound briefly to a chunky raw sambal; season with salt and a little sugar.
- 71 min
Squeeze in lime juice and taste for heat and sourness.
- 82 min
Arrange the cold greens on a plate and spoon the raw sambal over just before serving.