Pulut Kuning is symbolic of customs Aidil, W. (2011) and rituals (Noor, Zakaria, Shahril, Hadi, & Zahari, 2013). Pulut kuning is served for the worship ceremony and for the food of supernatural beings during the religious ritual process. During the ceremony, people in the past served pulut kuning with grilled chicken or fried chicken. They believe that supernatural beings will eat food and will not disturb the villagers. But now the ceremony has been eliminated because it is a superstition. In addition, it is also symbolic of wealth because it is yellow like the color of gold.
Originally, pulut kuning was once a royal dish. The king gives permission to the common people to enjoy the greatness of the palace when the festivities are held. This shows that the king emphasizes the prosperity of the country by sharing meals at the king’s palace. People in ancient times also made pulut kuning as one of the gifts in wedding ceremonies (Aishah@Eshah, H. M., Sulong, M. & Haziyah, H., 2010). ‘Bunga telur’ will be stuck on pulut kuning and only guests of honor or close relatives will be given the ‘bunga telur’. Even though the cooking process is quite complicated, but until now, pulut kuning is still the main dish in a Malay community event.
Let’s check the recipe below!
Ingredients
- 500g glutinous rice
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- enough water to soak the glutinous rice
- 2 cups of thick coconut milk
- salt to taste
- 3-4 pandan leaves
Cooking Methods
- 1. Soak glutinous rice mixed with turmeric until soft or overnight. Minimum 6 hours.
- 2. Drain the glutinous rice (discard the water). Arrange pandan leaves on a steamer tray and place glutinous rice on it.
- 3. Heat the steamer, and steam the glutinous rice for 1/2 hour or until soft. Remove and place in a large bowl.
- 4. Stir coconut milk with salt to taste. Pour the coconut milk into the glutinous rice and let it rest until the coconut milk is absorbed. Fluff the glutinous rice with a fork and it’s ready to serve.
Serve pulut kuning with ‘daging kerutub’, or chicken rendang.
Good luck!
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Article written by Nurul Humaira’ binti Hasan.
