Malaysian Great Festive Foods
The Bubur Lambok
During the month of Ramadhan, it is a tradition for some mosques in certain states of Malaysia to prepare the “ Bubur Lambok “. The Bubur Lambok is a kind of rice porridge that is cooked with spices and ingredients that make it tasty and savoury.
Preparing of Bubur Lambok , however, has no exact recipe. You may find its taste vary from one state to the other as each state has its own way of cooking it. Basically the porridge is cooked with meat and some special aromatic herbs. Some will sautee the spices together with the rice cooked in the coconut milk, while others will sautee the spices saparately and add it into the pot when the rice is almost cooked.
The typical Johor Bubur Lambok consist of 44 different types of herbs , spices , nuts and root vegetables that make the bubur taste unique and very savory. Beef or meat has always remained the main ingredients in the dish. The more there are, the tastier the bubur become. Like many other places, most of the mosques in Johor took place in preparing and distributing the dish for free to Muslims and Non – muslims.
The Masjid Jamek in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur has had the tradition preparing and distributing the Bubur Lambok dating back as early as 1950s. The Bubur Lambok has since become synonimous to this Kampung Baru mosque and even made into the Malaysia Book of Records for successfully cooking 120 large pots of bubur lambok and distributing it to about 30000 people.
Ketupat Daun Palas
The Ketupat Daun Palas, is one of a must have delicacies during the Eid ul Fitr festive. Made of steamed glutinous rice , it is wrapped in trangular shape in a fan palm leaves. The leaves are boiled to kill off any bacteria or germs during the wrapping process. The boiling helps to ensure the Ketupat lasts beyond the first day of celebrations.
In Kelantan , there are two types of Ketupat Daun Palas. One is Ketupat Lemak and the other is Ketupat Manis. For ketupat manis , besides the stocks used, sugar is added to make it sweet. In the Northern part of Malaysia i.e in Kedah and Perlis, nuts are added to the steamed glutinous rice. Making it rich in taste and flavor.
The Ketupat is normally eaten with sweet coconut sugar liquid or with the Sambal Daging or Serunding ( Meat Floss ) or rendang. The Ketupat is also given away to guests as a token of friendship and this in turn will be reciprocated into an exchange of Ketupat.
Rice Ketupat.
This is yet another unique traditional rice dumpling made from rice wrapped and boiled in a woven coconut leaf pouch. The cooked rice will fill the pouch and compressed it. Hence develop its texture and characteristic form. The Ketupat nasi or the rice Ketupat is known as one of Johor’s specialties. It is usually taken with rendang , lodeh as well as an accompaniment to satays.
