Ingredients
The rice
- 500 gglutinous rice
- soaked 4 hours
- 300 mlthick coconut milk
- 1 teaspoonsalt
- 2pandan leaves, knotted
The filling
- 150 gdried shrimp
- soaked and pounded
- 1onion, chopped
- 4garlic cloves
- 4dried chillies, soaked
- 2lemongrass stalks
- tender part only
- 2cm galangal
- 100 mlthick coconut milk
- 1 teaspoonsugar
- 3 tablespoonsoil
- salt
To wrap and grill
- banana leaves
- wilted over a flame
- cocktail sticks
- or string
To serve
- warm from the grill
- at a Ramadan market
Directions
- Rinse the glutinous rice thoroughly. Rinse it until the water runs clearer. Three or four changes is enough. Cover it with water and leave it. Give it at least four full hours. Drain the soaked rice thoroughly. Spread it in a lined steamer basket. Line the basket with a cloth or leaf. The grains fall through otherwise.
- Spread it out in an even layer. Cooking it takes about thirty minutes. Steam it for about thirty minutes. It should be tender and translucent. Taste a few of the grains to check. Steam it longer if it resists. Warm the coconut milk with salt and pandan. Warm it rather than boiling it. Stir the hot coconut milk into the rice.
- Stir it through while both are hot. Hot rice absorbs it far better. Cover it over and let it stand. Give it about fifteen minutes. Soak the dried shrimp in warm water. Give it about twenty full minutes. Drain it and then squeeze it dry. Pound the drained shrimp coarsely.
- Leave it fairly coarse rather than fine. Pound the onion, garlic and chillies. Add the lemongrass and galangal. Pound it down to a coarse paste. Peel them away and discard them. Chop the pale centre before pounding. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan. Fry the paste for about eight minutes. The paste should darken and thicken. Add the pounded shrimp to the pan.
- Cook it for about five minutes. Add the coconut milk and sugar. Season the whole pan with salt. Taste it before adding any more. It often needs very little indeed.
- Cook the filling down until quite dry. A wet filling makes the rice soggy. Cook it until it holds together. It should be a thick dry paste. Let the filling cool completely. Hot filling is impossible to handle. Cool it right down completely first.
- Cut the banana leaves into rectangles. A few seconds each side is enough. Brush it over with a little oil. The oil stops the rice sticking. Brush the centre of each leaf. Lay a leaf flat with the grain lengthwise. Roll it with the grain rather than across. That stops it tearing as you roll.
- Spread rice in a rectangle on the leaf. Glutinous rice sticks badly to dry hands. Spread it about a centimetre thick. Make it into a neat rectangle. Leave all the leaf edges clear. Lay a line of filling down the middle. Do not overfill any of them at all. Use the leaf to roll the rice over. Lift the leaf edge to start the roll.
- Press gently to seal the rice. The rice must enclose the filling. Press the rice edges together. Check each roll before wrapping. Fold both ends of the leaf under. The ends must stay closed on the grill. Wait until it glows under grey ash. Cooking them takes about ten minutes.
- Lay all the rolls on the grill. Turn all of them over regularly. Ten minutes is usually enough. Serve them still in their leaves. They keep a day at room temperature. Grill them again briefly to reheat.
Technique
- Both the rice and the filling are fully cooked before wrapping, so the grilling is for flavour rather than cooking: it chars the banana leaf and that char perfumes the rice inside. Wait for embers glowing under grey ash rather than flames, which burn the leaf right through.
- Cook the filling until quite dry and holding together, since a wet filling makes the rice soggy and leaks out of the roll. Then cool it completely — hot filling is impossible to handle and softens the rice.
- Dried shrimp is shellfish, shellfish allergy can be severe, and the filling is hidden inside the rice where nothing is visible — so say clearly what is in it.
Substitutions
- Wet your hands with cold water to spread the rice and re-wet them between each roll, since glutinous rice sticks badly to dry hands.
- Stir the warm coconut milk into the hot steamed rice and let it stand fifteen minutes covered, which is when it absorbs the milk and becomes rich, glossy and stickier — that stickiness is what lets it roll.
Variations
- Lay the banana leaf with its grain running lengthwise and roll with the grain rather than across it, since the leaf splits along the grain and rolling across tears it.
- Steam the soaked glutinous rice rather than boiling it, which waterlogs it; soak at least four hours or overnight, since unsoaked grains stay hard in the middle.
- Despite its name glutinous rice contains no gluten — the word refers to the sticky texture — and it is naturally gluten free.
History
Glutinous rice with spiced filling wrapped in banana leaf and grilled over charcoal, a staple of Ramadan evening markets.
Frequently asked questions
What is Pulut Panggang?
Pulut Panggang is a street food from Brunei: banana-leaf grilled sticky rice rolls with spiced dried-shrimp filling. Glutinous rice with spiced filling wrapped in banana leaf and grilled over charcoal, a staple of Ramadan evening markets.
How long does Pulut Panggang take to make?
Pulut Panggang takes 1 hour plus soaking of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 16 rolls. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Pulut Panggang?
Yes, within limits. Wet your hands with cold water to spread the rice and re-wet them between each roll, since glutinous rice sticks badly to dry hands. Stir the warm coconut milk into the hot steamed rice and let it stand fifteen minutes covered, which is when it absorbs the milk and becomes rich, glossy and stickier — that stickiness is what lets it roll.
What is the most important thing to get right in Pulut Panggang?
Rinse the glutinous rice thoroughly. Rinse it until the water runs clearer. Three or four changes is enough. Cover it with water and leave it. Give it at least four full hours. Drain the soaked rice thoroughly. Spread it in a lined steamer basket. Line the basket with a cloth or leaf. The grains fall through otherwise.
