Pulut
Kukus dalam Periuk Kera
(Pitcher
Plant Glutinous Rice)
Introduction:
Pitcher
Plant Glutinous Rice is a cuisine that prepared by Bidayuh. The Bidayuh is the
collective name for several indigenous groups found in southern Sarawak, on the
island of Borneo that is broadly similar in language and culture.
Ingredients:
 |
| 40 to 50 of pitcher plant |
 |
| 1kg Glutinous Rice |
 |
| 2 L coconut milk |
 |
| Salt |
 |
| Sugar |
Directions :
1. Firstly, prepare
glutinous rice by measuring the uncooked rice in a pot or steamer. Secondly,
rinse the rice to take out nutrients as well as some of the starch components
of the grains. To wash, add water to the rice, rub the rice in your hands,
drain the milky water, add new water, and repeat the process until the water is
clear. After rinsing the rice, add warm water to the rice grains and leave it on the side to soak between 4 hours and overnight. The longer the rice is
soaked, the more the texture will be.
2. Meanwhile, collect wild
pitchers, Nepenthes Ampullaria are preferable which are very abundant in the jungle and select the
pitchers which are not too old or too young. After that, clean the inside of
the pitcher plants using a brush and rinse with clean water for several times
to remove all traces of the plant's digestive fluids and food wastes.
3. Leave dry the pitcher
plants in room temperature so that it is not easily torn and drain the
glutinous rice through a colander to get all of the water out.
4. Next, fill the pitchers
with prepared glutinous rice about half of the pitcher.
5. Then, mix freshly
prepared coconut milk with sugar and a pile of salt, stir until the mixture
dissolved. Fill in the mixture into the pitchers that are half filled with
glutinous rice.
6. Finally, arrange the pitchers closely in a
steamer as the pitchers are round and oval to ensure it does not split. Steam
the pitcher plant glutinous rice for an hour and it is ready to serve.
Online recipe 2 :
As
compare to the original recipe above, the cooking method of pitcher plant rice
is different. In recipe 1, the pitcher plant rice glutinous rice is being
steamed for 1 hour which using the indirect wet heat technique. In recipe 2,
pitcher plant is being pinned with a small piece
of wood, like a toothpick. The pitcher is then boiled together with water in a pot
for 30 to 40 minutes until the rice is cooked. Boiling is a direct wet heat
culinary technique and it can shorter the cooking period of pitcher plant.
Nowadays, people are busy with their job and spent most of the time in doing
the work. Hence, people will prefer to use boiling method to cook food to save their
time.
Online
recipe 3:
 |
| Diagram 1 |
 |
| Diagram 2
Pitcher plant glutinous rice also can be transformed into
different flavor by using different ingredients. Based on diagram 1, the
pitcher plant is filled with brown rice and this is different with the original
recipe that used glutinous rice. This is because brown rice renders quicker
cooking times and makes it easier to digest as it’s much “lighter” in
the stomach. Moreover, pandan leaves and peanut are used to replace coconut
milk to enhance the taste and aroma of pitcher plant rice. The reason is pandan
leaves and peanut are in dry form so it can be store longer while coconut milk
is in liquid form which can be spoilt easily. Hence, people will prefer to use peanut
and pandan leaves as ingredients of pitcher plant rice. In diagram 2, shrimp
paste which known as ‘sambal belacan’ is added into pitcher plant glutinous
rice. It creates a spicy taste and strong odor which suits the Malay cuisine in
Malaysia. Creating a new flavor of pitcher plant rice is a business strategy used by the seller to attract customers to buy it.
Online
recipe 4:
Diagram 3
Diagram 4
Pitcher
plant is used as a wrapper for glutinous rice. Therefore it is a Bidayuh
cuisine which known as Pitcher Plant Glutinous Rice. However, banana leaves and
bamboo leaves can be used to replace pitcher plant as a wrapper for glutinous
rice. Pitcher plant can be found in forest areas but it is difficult for people who live in urban area to get pitcher plant. Pitcher plant also contains
sticky liquid so it has to wash for few times using the brush to remove the
liquid as it is harmful to be consumed. Hence, banana leaves and bamboo
leaves are used as the substitutes of pitcher plant. For example, banana leaves
is used as a wrapper for “lemang” that made up of glutinous
rice, coconut
milk and salt which cooked in a hollowed bamboo stick lined with banana leaves in order to prevent the
rice from sticking to the bamboo as shown in diagram 3. Glutinous rice also can
be wrapped using bamboo leaves known as “zongzi” or sticky rice dumpling which
is a Chinese cuisine as shown in diagram 4. “Zongzi”
need to be steamed or boiled for several hours depending on how the
rice is made prior to being added, along with the fillings.
Conclusion:
Pitcher plant glutinous rice is a national heritage food
in Malaysia which originated from Bidayuh. However, due to the change of
cooking method, ingredients and the wrapper, this cuisine has been replaced by
another cuisine such as “lemang” and “zongzi” or transformed to a new flavor.
The original flavor and cooking method of Pitcher Plant Glutinous Rice has been
eliminated by the new generations because nowadays the new generations prefer luxury food which
made up of expensive ingredients and cook by using the new technology such as
oven.
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