Glutinous rice or pulut has been a very important aspect in Eastern culture for centuries. Be it for grand celebrations and festivals or for religious ceremonies, this humble food has its own significance and symbol that goes beyond taste and flavour. In fact, this may be a little funny to some of you, but some old-school Asians are actually afraid of the mystical ‘power’ associated with it since glutinous rice or pulut kuning specifically, are used in many rituals and spiritual ceremonies where the pulut kuning is being offered to the deities and spirits. However, in spite of that, glutinous rice, when made right, can be made into an enjoyable and wholesome meals.

The Perfect Glutinous Rice

Although simple, many of us actually are not able to cook the perfect glutinous rice even after a few tries. For something as easy as cooking glutinous rice, it seems very ridiculous for someone to not be able to cook the perfect glutinous rice because what is there but steaming it?

There is a rubric that you can follow in order to achieve that perfect glutinous rice and the aspects that you have to tick under that rubric are; stickiness, fluffiness, and wetness. To talk about this, we might need to write a thesis on it but let’s face it, nobody has the time to do it. So, i am sharing with you my own glutinous rice recipe which have never fail to give that fluffy, sticky result that everyone wants to achieve. There is no guarantee that you will succeed but follow the recipe and your chances might get higher.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup onion, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups of glutinous rice, washed 3 times
• 3 cups of coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons of turmeric powder

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil and butter.
2. Add all the ingredients and mix well and add the mixed glutinous rice in a rice cooker.
3. Let cook for 25 to 30 minutes.
4. If the rice is still hard, add a bit of water and continue cooking till glutinous rice becomes fluffy.

Serve with Delicious Rendang

Don’t forget to make some beef or chicken rendang (I personally recommend the beef rendang) to go with your delicious, fluffy glutinous rice. Don’t forget to keep your rice cooker at ‘warm’ because we don’t want the glutinous rice to become hard and starchy.

I really hope you love this recipe and as how it has never fail me, it is doing the same for you too as well.

For any inquiries or even a little chat about the intricacies of cooking glutinous rice, just slide into my Instagram DM at @justinescakesandkueh. Don’t forget to follow me and Butterkicap for more feel-good recipes and comforting heritage food that you can try and make on your own!