ALL ABOUT INDONESIA : Lontong is a dish made of compressed rice cake in the form of a cylinder wrapped inside a banana leaf,[1] commonly found in Indonesia; also in Malaysia and Singapore. The rice rolled inside banana leaf and boiled, then cut into small cakes as staple food replacement of steamed rice. The texture is similar to those of ketupat, with the difference that ketupat container was made from weaved janur (young coconut leaf) fronds, while lontong uses banana leaf instead.
It is commonly called nasi himpit (lit. "pressed rice") in Malaysia, despite actually having different method to create it.[citation needed]
Arem-arem is the smaller size of lontong filled with vegetables (carrot, common bean and potato) sometimes also filled with meat, are eaten as snack.
The dish is usually served cold or at room temperature with peanut sauce-based dishes such as gado-gado, karedok, ketoprak, other traditional salads, and satay. It can be eaten as an accompaniment to coconut milk-based soups, such as soto, gulai and curries. It is also used as an alternative to vermicelli noodles.
It is commonly called nasi himpit (lit. "pressed rice") in Malaysia, despite actually having different method to create it.[citation needed]
Arem-arem is the smaller size of lontong filled with vegetables (carrot, common bean and potato) sometimes also filled with meat, are eaten as snack.
The dish is usually served cold or at room temperature with peanut sauce-based dishes such as gado-gado, karedok, ketoprak, other traditional salads, and satay. It can be eaten as an accompaniment to coconut milk-based soups, such as soto, gulai and curries. It is also used as an alternative to vermicelli noodles.
Method of lontong making
Lontong is traditionally made by boiling the rice until it is partially cooked and packing it tightly into a rolled-up banana leaf. The leaf is secured with lidi semat, wooden needle made from the central rib of coconut leaf, and cooked in boiling water for about 90 minutes. Once the compacted rice has cooled, it can be cut up into bite-sized pieces. Outer parts of lontong usually have greenish color because of the chlorophyll left by banana leaf rub off on rice cake surface.
Unwrapped lontong. Different colors depend on banana leaf which is used as the wrapper is a typically Indonesian lontong
Alternative ways of cooking lontong include placing uncooked rice into a muslin bag then letting the water seep in and cause the rice to form a solid mass. Another popular and easier method is by using commercially available plastic pouches; rice-filled and punctured with needle to create small holes to allow the water to seep into the package, which are then boiled until the rice becomes cooked and have fully filled up the pouch. This method was meant to imitate the banana leaf's liquid permeability. Nevertheless, the use of organic banana leaf is highly recommended for better health and ecological reasons.
On the other hand, Malaysian nasi himpit (lit. "pressed rice") is traditionally created differently. The method is more a mechanical pressure than applying permeable boiling technique; freshly cooked rice is compressed for a few hours between two heavy stone slabs or two trays with a heavy weight on top to produce nasi himpit. However, nasi himpit is now usually speedily produced in water permeable plastic sachets filled with rice and boiled in water.
Lontong is traditionally made by boiling the rice until it is partially cooked and packing it tightly into a rolled-up banana leaf. The leaf is secured with lidi semat, wooden needle made from the central rib of coconut leaf, and cooked in boiling water for about 90 minutes. Once the compacted rice has cooled, it can be cut up into bite-sized pieces. Outer parts of lontong usually have greenish color because of the chlorophyll left by banana leaf rub off on rice cake surface.
Unwrapped lontong. Different colors depend on banana leaf which is used as the wrapper is a typically Indonesian lontong
Alternative ways of cooking lontong include placing uncooked rice into a muslin bag then letting the water seep in and cause the rice to form a solid mass. Another popular and easier method is by using commercially available plastic pouches; rice-filled and punctured with needle to create small holes to allow the water to seep into the package, which are then boiled until the rice becomes cooked and have fully filled up the pouch. This method was meant to imitate the banana leaf's liquid permeability. Nevertheless, the use of organic banana leaf is highly recommended for better health and ecological reasons.
On the other hand, Malaysian nasi himpit (lit. "pressed rice") is traditionally created differently. The method is more a mechanical pressure than applying permeable boiling technique; freshly cooked rice is compressed for a few hours between two heavy stone slabs or two trays with a heavy weight on top to produce nasi himpit. However, nasi himpit is now usually speedily produced in water permeable plastic sachets filled with rice and boiled in water.
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