The Kuala Lumpur Traveler

Are you a fan of bubur lambuk? If you are, this is your lucky day. I am going to show you how I make Kelantanese style bubur lambuk, my way. Bubur lambuk, or porridge, is a Malay delicacy which has several varieties depending on in which state this popular dish is cooked.

In Kuala Lumpur, the most famous bubur lambuk is of course available at Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru (Kampung Baru Mosque). Bubur Lambuk Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru, however, is only available during fasting month where the porridge is cooked in large quantities by the mosque community and distributed free during the month of Ramadhan.

OK… back to my bubur lambuk which is based on Kelantanese way of cooking, here are the main ingredients to get you set. You will have to guess and estimate the quantity depending on how many people you are feeding.

In this picture above, you see some 1kg of rice which have been soaked in plain water for at least half an hour to make it softer and faster to cook later. The garlics, shallots and black peppers have been pounded together in a a stone mortar and pestle ( or lesung batu). At the bottom of this picture, we have some vegetables. The reddish in colour is a type of fern called pucuk paku merah (or pucuk niding in Kelantanese dialect). You also see here pucuk manis and bayam (spinach). I always believe the more of these the better, but of course not too much.

In this picture, we have squids, prawns, stingray and ikan selar (one-finlet scad, a type of fish). The prawns and squids are chopped into fine pieces while the stingray and ikan selar are grilled and shredded into small pieces too. Do not hesitate to add chicken if you want but all must be chopped into small chunks. So far so good ehhhh?

Not shown in the pictures are water, coconut milk, the quantity of which can be estimated depending on how much porridge you want to cook, and salt/sugars to taste, . In my case here, I cooked the bubur lambuk in quite a large quantity, because I normally keep the balance in my freezer and just heat it in the microwave own when I once again crave for my porridge.

How do I cook my bubur lambuk? Simple and easy. Boil the rice until it becomes thick (yuppp… that’s called porridge). Add more water as you cook to get the thickness you desire.

In my case, for 1kg of rice, I use about 4-6 litres of water. Don’t forget to continually stir the rice regularly otherwise the bottom will become crusty. Trust me you don’t want that to happen. The trick is to use high flame initially and turn it to medium flame once the water boils. Then you add the meats (chicken first if you use them, followed by prawns, squids, fish and vegetables), salts and sugar. Add coconut milk and continue cooking for about 15 minutes more. If you find your porridge becomes too thick along the way, just add a bit more water and cook a bit longer. When you are done, this is what you should get. I guess it is not easy to screw up this dish right? It is just water and how-long-you-cook game… how hard can that be? But then don’t take my words for it…. he he he.

After a couple of hours, here are what you would be looking at. The bubur lambuk is very yummy. Serve it with fried shallots, daun bawang/sup (onion leaves and soup leaves/small cellery) and pounded birds eye chillies mixed with vinegar. Hmmmm… aren’t you hungry?

Give it a try and let us know here how did you manage.. You can also view an alternative bubur lambuk recipe here.

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