Comfort Cooking

Covid-19 stay-home recipe: Bubur pulut hitam

At a loss as to what to cook today? Fret not. In this daily series, STFood Online Editor Hedy Khoo features nourishing recipes you can whip up during the circuit breaker period

Palm sugar makes a difference with its aromatic qualities.
BUBUR PULUT HITAM ST PHOTO: HEDY KHOO
Palm sugar makes a difference with its aromatic qualities.
Palm sugar makes a difference with its aromatic qualities. ST PHOTO: HEDY KHOO

Dessert shops were allowed to reopen on Tuesday, but you can still whip up some simple sweet treats at home.

Try making bubur pulut hitam - a black sticky rice dessert that requires only six ingredients.

The main ingredient is unpolished, short-grain glutinous rice of a dark purple hue which should be washed and rinsed thoroughly. Some housewives tell me they soak the rice before cooking.

To save time and effort, I put the rice to boil right away. The dessert should have a sticky, gooey consistency, but do not boil the rice until it turns to mush.

This is also a dessert one appreciates for its texture. The rice grains should be cooked to the point that they are tender yet chewy.

You can use granulated sugar but palm sugar does make a difference with its aromatic qualities. When using palm sugar, chop it up for it to dissolve quickly.

If you cannot get hold of palm sugar, brown sugar is a good substitute.

Fresh coconut milk or cream is a bonus, but coconut cream out of the box works just as well.


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BUBUR PULUT HITAM

INGREDIENTS

300g black glutinous rice

8 pandan leaves

2.5 litres water

150g gula jawa (Indonesian palm sugar)

1 tsp salt

100ml coconut cream

METHOD

1. Soak and wash the black glutinous rice thoroughly until the water runs clear.

2. Add the pandan leaves and 2.5 litres of water. Bring to a boil.

3. Boil covered for 40 minutes over medium heat.

4. Add the gula jawa and stir.

5. Turn the heat down to medium-low and boil for another 15 to 20 minutes.

6. Add the salt, stir and let the mixture come to a simmer. Turn off the heat.

7. Drizzle coconut cream when serving.

Serves eight

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 14, 2020, with the headline Comfort Cooking: Bubur pulut hitam. Subscribe