Brunei - Ketupat

A different way to eat Jasmine rice

Aneri's note: Food from SE Asia are some of my favorite in the world. Unfortunately Brunei is a bit challenging as it’s a pretty meat-oriented culture. I typically confuse Bahrain and and Brunei as they are both oil kingdoms, even though they are in totally different continents! Ambuyat is their national dish - vegan, but made from a sago palm tree.

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Ketupat

Difficulty level (1-10): 2

Ketupat is essentially packed down Jasmine rice. It’s a different way to eat rice. Traditionally its prepared with banana leaves, but with modern times people have adapted this recipe to a rice cooker. This and the peanut sauce is also commonly a side to a chicken satay. So for this recipe, you can consider the ketupat and peanut sauce as the authentic vegan recipes!

Ingredients

Jasmine rice - 2 cups

Water - 4 cups

Salt - 1/4 tsp

1. Wash and drain the rice. Put the rice, salt, and water in a rice cooker or Instant Pot for 12 minutes.

2. Open the lid, and using a spatula press the rice down.

3. Use a loaf pan and transfer the warm rice o the pan and press down the rice into the pan. Cover with Saran Wrap or parchment paper and keep pressing down.

4. Once cooled, cut into 1 inch cubes.

5. Serve with any southeast asian curry as a new way to eat rice!

P.S - I don't have a good peanut sauce recipe unfortunately. The one pictured didn't come out well! Readers please share in the comments if you have one you'd like to promote :)