Lemang

Lemang cooking process

Lemang is a traditional Malaysian food made of glutinous rice, coconut milk and salt, and cooked in a hollowed bamboo stick lined with banana leaves in order to prevent the rice from sticking to the bamboo. The cooking method using bamboo container is popular in Iban Dayak tribe of Borneo. Usually prepared for celebrations such as the Iban harvest festival of Hari Gawai, lemang is usually eaten with meat dishes such as chicken curry. In fact, the cooking process used in making lemang, also known as "pansoh/pansuh", is the traditional delicacy preparation by indigenous Dayak communities for a wide variety of meats.

The tube contains gloutinous rice, salt and coconut milk is placed slightly slanted on a small fire with the opening facing upwards. The bamboo tube should be turned regularly in order to cook evenly. It takes about 4-5 hours to cook lemang. Lemang is popular in Malaysia, Malay communities of Indonesia, Minangkabau people and Iban communities of Borneo, and Minahasans that usually prepared by using the tapai method. Lemang can now be found throughout Indonesia due to the spread of Minangkabau people throughout the country.

Lemang is ubiquitous among Malay communities and commonly eaten to mark the end of daily fasting during the annual Muslim Malaysian holidays of Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Hari Raya Haji. The aboriginal communities of West Malaysia (Orang Asli) also practice cooking rice in bamboo. In East Malaysia, the Negrito, dan Semai also have the tradition of serving lemang.

How to cut the hollowed bamboo to retrieve the lemang inside.

External links

• Lemang recipe