Hari Raya Aidilfitri (Malay term for the Muslim festival of Aidil Fitri, Muslim celebration) is coming very soon. Here I would like to share traditional Malay (Malaysian) food for this special festive occasion.
Lemang is a traditional Malay food cooked in a hollowed bamboo stick. This dish is usually eaten with rendang.
Rendang is a popular dish in Malaysia which is traditionally prepared. Though rendang is sometimes described as being like a curry, and the name is sometimes applied to curried meat dishes in Malaysia, authentic rendang is nothing like a curry. It is made from beef (or occasionally chicken, mutton, water buffalo meat, duck or vegetables like jackfruit or cassava) slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices for several hours until almost all the liquid is gone, leaving the meat coated in the spicy condiments. The cooking process changes from boiling to frying as the liquid evaporates. The slow cooking process allows the meat to absorb all the spices and to become tender.
This Malay dish is not something you would consider cooking for a usual dinner meal but it is a great party dish. It tastes better hours after it is cooked and you can prepare it beforehand. It goes well with rice or as a part of a nasi lemak spread. For me, it tastes best with soft white bread. Wrap some pieces of beef with it and ..yum. As I was making it for the carnival, I went for lemang, a banana leaf wrapped and steamed glutinous
rice dumpling. It looked rather exotic together and we could price it likewise.
