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Jakarta Post

Symbolic glutinous rice

In many cultures, foods can symbolize life cycles or individual characters

Suryatini N. Ganie (The Jakarta Post)
Sun, July 4, 2010

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Symbolic glutinous rice

In many cultures, foods can symbolize life cycles or individual characters.

Ketan (Oryza sativa glutinosa) or glutinous rice is seen as symbolizing togetherness or a strong bond in life. We can observe this in many traditional wedding ceremonies such as the upa-upa ceremony of the eastern Sumatran wedding. Following the ceremonies at the bride’s parents, the couple visits the groom’s parents to have the tepung tawar (literally means unsalted wheat flour that can dispel evil spirits) or to have upa-upa ceremony.

The ceremony includes the sprinkling of some water and other symbolical spices to the groom and bride.

Then the couple is offered with a teaspoonful of steamed glutinous rice to eat. The oldest person in the family leads the ceremony and a close relative or friend will do the upa-upa. “May they stay together like glutinous rice, until old age,” the emcee chants.

Glutinous rice has a special place in various cultures in Indonesia which has a variety of ways in preparing it. In many regions of West Sumatra, families often serve ketan during the festive days of Idul Fitri.

In many Javanese families, the tumpeng or rice cone served for a number of rituals is made of white rice and white glutinous rice, not just to give the tumpeng a more solid structure but also because of the belief that “glutinous rice will glue the people together,” said and old relative, a strong believer of food as symbol.

Meanwhile, the black ketan is commonly used for snacks or porridges. It’s not as popular as the white ketan but it’s considered more substantial. In the outskirts of southern Jakarta, the tapai ketan hitam or fermented black glutinous rice and uli (glutinous rice cake) are a set pair of snacks served during traditional ceremonies.

“The making of fermented black glutinous rice is more time consuming,” said Bu Dahlan, a noted tape ketan vendor who usually produces tape uli during the Ramadan fasting month.

“First it has to be soaked for 24 hours and then steamed. The yeast must be distributed evenly, when making the fermented black glutinous rice. The fermentation of white glutinous rice takes only about 36 hours, but for a good tapai ketan hitam, you need approximately 48 hours.”

A vendor in a traditional market said that she usually sells 30 kilograms of white glutinous rice and only about some 10 liters of black glutinous rice daily. “The best glutinous rice variety is called ketan paris,” said another.

“The paris variety is fragrant and has perfect longish grains and tastes very good when cooked.

Glutinous rice from other islands is not necessarily of inferior quality though not as good as the paris variety grown in Java,” she said.

As to question why paris was adopted as its name, nobody knows.

The lemang, is a delicacy cooked in bamboo tubes and is widely produced in West Sumatra. In some regions in Java, similar delicacy is made in rolled banana leaves. Then there is kue bacang. It bears Chinese influence and has become a popular morning snack or breakfast meal when stuffed with minced beef in place of minced pork.

For those eager to taste a real bacang (with minced pork filling), Glodok bacang is the best.

The white variety of glutinous rice is also widely used in southern West Java where a flourishing industry of dodol — sweets of mashed white glutinous rice, brown sugar and thick coconut milk is produced. Dodol producers are very creative and give their products many different flavors and forms — from 20-centimeter long tubes to 4-centimeter long. Some of the products have been exported to many Asian countries. A city of Garut has been known as the hub of dodol production.

A favorite breakfast meal in many areas in Jakarta and the neighboring Tangerang is the ketan and pisang goreng (fried banana). The ketan of white variety is cooked or steamed and enhanced with some pandanus leaves for fragrance. While the ketan is still cooking, fry the bananas. You can use local breed of banana like pisang raja and pisang kepok.

Then serve a portion of glutinous rice topped thickly with grated young coconut with the fried bananas.

For people with a sweet tooth, cover the bananas with honey or a thick brown sugar sauce.
In North Sumatra, breakfast usually comes in steamed ketan called pulut. This delicacy is served with a topping of grated coconut and durian custard. The breakfast is regularly served with stark sweet local coffee known as kopi tubruk.

Another ketan breakfast is served in Kudus, a Central Java town known for its cigarettes industry. Steamed white ketan is topped with either serundeng (fried spiced grated coconut) or with uyah goreng, literally meaning “fried salt”. Uyah goreng is pan-heated spiced grated coconut fried then mashed finely. The result is a rich and aromatic topping.

Last but not least, for those looking for a crunchy snack whether sweet or savory, buy a pack of rengginang at a supermarket or wet market and fry the glutinous rice crackers at a medium heat. Good to enjoy with your favorite ice-cold drink or steaming hot tea or coffee, or any drink to your taste.

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