Lemang

Lemang is a traditional food made of glutinous rice and coconut milk and cooked in a hollowed bamboo stick lined with banana leaves in order to prevent the rice from sticking to the bamboo.^[1] The cooking method using bamboo container is popular in Iban Dayak tribe of Borneo.^[2] Usually prepared for celebrations such as the Iban harvest festival of Hari Gawai, lemang is usually eaten with meat dishes such as chicken curry. In fact, the cooking process used in making lemang, also known as "pansoh/pansuh", is the traditional delicacy preparation by indigenous Dayak communities for a wide variety of meats.^[3]

Lemang is popular in Malaysia, Malay communities of Indonesia, Minangkabau people and Iban communities of Borneo, Manado usually prepared by using the tapai method. Lemang can now be found throughout Indonesia due to the spread of Minangkabau people throughout the country.^[4]

Lemang is ubiquitous among Malay communities and commonly eaten to mark the end of daily fasting during the annual Muslim Malaysian holidays of Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Hari Raya Haji. The aboriginal communities of West Malaysia (Orang Asli) also practice cooking rice in bamboo.^[5] In East Malaysia, the Negrito,^[6] dan Semai also have the tradition of serving lemang.^[7]

How to cut the hollowed bamboo to retrieve the lemang inside.

References

1.      ^ (Malay)http://www.travelfeeder.com/travel_tips/travel-snapshot-celebrate-hari-raya-aidilfitri-with-lemang

2.      ^ An encyclopædia of gardening: comprising the theory and practice ..., Volume 1 By John Claudius Loudon, Mrs. Loudon (Jane)

3.      ^ (Malay) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_8016/is_20080928/ai_n44416554/

4.      ^ Indonesian's Culture Heritages Portal.

5.      ^ The Negritos of Malaya By Ivor Hugh Norman Evans.

6.      ^ The Negritos of Malaya By Ivor Hugh Norman Evans.

7.      ^ Tribal communities in the Malay world: historical, cultural and social ... By Geoffrey Benjamin.