How can a dish with just five ingredients (including water) taste so incredibly complex and comforting? Say hello to ‘bitter’ porridge, a rice porridge found on Lunbawang dining tables in the Sarawak highlands. Celestine and Sharon ate this during their travels to Ba’kelalan, a collection of villages near the Kalimantan border, and were delighted to find that replicating it in their KL kitchens was pretty easy. Despite its name, it’s not at all bitter (‘bitter’ actually means porridge in Lundayeh), and manages to convey unctuousness without any fat.
Recipe originally appears in Sakai in the City; shared with permission by authors Celestine & Sharon.
‘Bitter’ porridge
by Celestine Lau and Sharon SemionHow can a dish with just five ingredients (including water) taste so incredibly complex and comforting? Say hello to ‘bitter’ porridge, a rice porridge found on Lunbawang dining tables in the Sarawak highlands. Celestine and Sharon ate this during their travels to Ba’kelalan, a collection of villages near the Kalimantan border, and were delighted to find that replicating it in their KL kitchens was pretty easy. Despite its name, it’s not at all bitter (‘bitter’ actually means porridge in Lundayeh), and manages to convey unctuousness without any fat.
Recipe originally appears in Sakai in the City; shared with permission by authors Celestine & Sharon.
Servings: 4
Prep time: Quick
Servings: 4
Prep time: Quick
Ingredients
100g uncooked beras adan, rinsed (see Note)
1.25 litres water
300g winter melon shoots, thick vines removed and leaves thinly sliced
½ tsp salt
½ tsp MSG
Directions
- Place the rice in a medium pot along with all of the water. Turn the heat on to high. Once the water begins to boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and leave the rice to simmer, stirring once in a while so it does not stick to the base of the pot.
- Once the rice is half-cooked, about 10 minutes in, add the sliced winter melon leaves, salt, and MSG. Stir well and continue simmering for about 10-15 minutes more until it reaches your preferred porridge texture, still stirring once in a while.
- Taste for seasoning. Turn off the heat and serve immediately.
Tips
- There is no substitute for beras adan in this recipe. It is quite easily available through Shopee or one of our favourite purveyors of local produce, Langit Collective.
- Winter melon leaves are known as pucuk kundur. If you can get hold of cucumber leaves (pucuk timun), even better. Pumpkin shoots (pucuk labu) will do great in a pinch.
Ingredients
100g uncooked beras adan, rinsed (see Note)
1.25 litres water
300g winter melon shoots, thick vines removed and leaves thinly sliced
½ tsp salt
½ tsp MSG
Directions
- Place the rice in a medium pot along with all of the water. Turn the heat on to high. Once the water begins to boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and leave the rice to simmer, stirring once in a while so it does not stick to the base of the pot.
- Once the rice is half-cooked, about 10 minutes in, add the sliced winter melon leaves, salt, and MSG. Stir well and continue simmering for about 10-15 minutes more until it reaches your preferred porridge texture, still stirring once in a while.
- Taste for seasoning. Turn off the heat and serve immediately.
Tips
- There is no substitute for beras adan in this recipe. It is quite easily available through Shopee or one of our favourite purveyors of local produce, Langit Collective.
- Winter melon leaves are known as pucuk kundur. If you can get hold of cucumber leaves (pucuk timun), even better. Pumpkin shoots (pucuk labu) will do great in a pinch.
