Lemper

Today, Zila brought a container-full of lemper, a Jawa dish made of glutinous rice.  It is filled with serunding udang ( prawn floss ), flavored only with jintan putih ( cumin, powdered seeds of Cuminum cyminum ) and serbuk lada hitam ( black pepper powder, Piper nigrum ), wrapped in banana leaf. 

The taste is somehow similar to a close variant, pulut panggang ( grilled glutinous rice ), which is cylindrical, 3cm Æ x 10cm length.  Lemper is bite-size, cubical, about 4cm length x 4cm width x 2.5cm height, and is cooked in boiled water.

Glutinous Rice with Durian Jam

Last week, my colleagues shared with me an unique recie of durian jam.  Then, last night YeeMeng gave me 2 durians.  What a great timing !

Today, when I cracked open both durians, I found some Plagideicta magniplaga larvaes feasting in some compartments of the fruits.  The aril I salvaged from the larvaes’ party can still be made into tempoyak, a fermented durian dish.   

For tonight’s dinner, I will have steamed glutinous rice with durian jam.

Out of the remaining edible durians, I removed some of the aril, mashed with a spoon and heated over a pan with some water.  Then,  with the speed of lighting, add to the durian a watery mixture of 1 teaspoon of flour + 1 teaspoon of coconut milk powder + 1 spoon of sugar.    Bring to boil and serve with glutinous rice.

Its creamy, sweet and rich with durian flavour.

Must try !

汤圆 Tangyuan

汤圆 tangyuan is a delicacy made of glutinous rice flour, served during 冬至winter solstice.  Tangyuans are rounds, plain or stuffed, often brightly coloured, and are served in sweet or savory soup.

Tangyuans can be stuffed with crunched peanut-sugar, sesame paste, gula melaka, or anything sweet.  The soup can be as simple as sweetened-ginger to pandan-flavoured, or a complicated savory soup...  I normally had my tongyuans in sweet soup, never in my life having them in savory soup.  I also like it coated with crunched sweetened peanut.

Making tangyuan is very simple : mix glutinous flour with water to make a dough, not too damp and not too dry.  Too damp it will ‘melt’, too dry it will ‘crack’...

Then, shape it into spheres of about 7cm Æ  ( bite size )... The tangyuans shouldn’t be too big, as it will be difficult to chew and swallow.  This process is undoubtedly the highlight of tangyuan-making.  Friends and family members gather together ( reunion ), making tangyuans of variable sizes and colours...

Finally, put the tangyuans into boiling water.  The tangyuans will float when cooked...

Scoop them out, and buon appetito!

a mess !

another disaster...

wa lau ye !

shape up !

fun process...

indeed food for fun !

ta da !!!

Mike is testing...

Ani is doubtful...

Glutinous Rice 糯米饭

Ingredient

1. glutinous rice 400g,
2. powdered coconut milk, 100g
3. pandan extract
4. some red glutinous rice, optional, to add the reddish sprinkle
5. salt to taste


Method

1. pre-soak the glutinous in water for at least 1 hour
2. steam over maximum flame for 1 hour.  If not cooked, continue steam for another 10 minutes.  It won't over-cooked
3. serve hot with chicken curry / beef rendang .  Nyamai !