''Burasa'' () (also ''burasa, ''burasak'' or ''buras'') is an Indonesian rice

dumpling Dumplings are a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough (made from a variety of starchy sources), often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, wheat or other flours, or potatoes, and it may be filled wi ...

, cooked with

coconut milk Coconut milk is a plant milk extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of the milky-white liquid are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ingred ...

packed inside a

banana leaf The banana leaf is the leaf of the banana plant, which may produce up to 40 leaves in a growing cycle. The leaves have a wide range of applications because they are large, flexible, waterproof and decorative. They are used for cooking, wrappin ...

pouch. It is similar to ''

lontong ''Lontong'' () is an Indonesian cuisine, Indonesian dish made of compressed rice cake in the form of a Cylinder (geometry), cylinder wrapped inside a banana leaf, commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Rice is rolled inside a bana ...

'', but with a richer flavour acquired from the coconut milk. It is a delicacy of the

Bugis The Bugis people, also known as Buginese, are an Austronesian ethnic groupthe most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi (the others being Makassarese and Torajan), in the south-western province of Sula ...

and

Makassar Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, ...

people of

South Sulawesi South Sulawesi () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province in the South Peninsula, Sulawesi, southern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital and largest ci ...

. It is also a dish associated with the Bugis diaspora, notably in the

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

n states of

Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

, and

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

where there are large established communities. It is often consumed as a staple to replace

steamed rice Cooked rice refers to rice that has been cooked either by steaming or boiling. The terms steamed rice or boiled rice are also commonly used. Any variant of Asian rice (both indica and japonica varieties), African rice or wild rice, glutino ...

or ''

ketupat ''Ketupat'' (in Indonesian and Malay), or ''kupat'' (in Javanese and Sundanese), or ''tipat'' (in Balinese) is a Javanese rice cake packed inside a diamond-shaped container of woven palm leaf pouch. Originating in Indonesia, it is also ...

'', and a popular accompaniment to a rich dish of chicken braised with galangal (''ayam masak lengkuas'' in Malay, ''likku'' or ''lekku'' in Buginese). ''Burasa'' is made by steaming the rice until half-cooked, then cooking further in

mixed with '' daun salam'' (Indonesian

bay leaf The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used as a herb in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. The flavour that a bay lea ...

) and

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

until all of the coconut milk is absorbed into the rice. Then the half-cooked coconut milk rice is wrapped inside

banana leaves The banana leaf is the leaf of the banana plant, which may produce up to 40 leaves in a growing cycle. The leaves have a wide range of applications because they are large, flexible, waterproof and decorative. They are used for cooking, wrappin ...

in cylindrical or pillow shapes, secured with strings, most commonly from banana leaf fibers. Two cylinders of ''burasa'' are usually tied together as one. The rice packages are then steamed further until completely cooked. In Indonesia, ''burasa'' can be consumed as a snack with ''

serundeng Serundeng () refers to a Javanese spiced grated coconut side dish or condiment originated in Indonesia that is used to accompany rice. Serundeng may taste sweet or hot and spicy, according to the recipe variants. Its best-known variant is an ...

'' (spiced desiccated

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

hard-boiled egg Boiled eggs are typically from a chicken, and are cooked with their shells unbroken, usually by immersion in boiling water. Hard-boiled or hard-cooked eggs are cooked so that the egg white and egg yolk both solidify, while soft-boiled eggs may l ...

, or ''

sambal kacang Peanut sauce, satay sauce (saté sauce), ''bumbu kacang'', ''sambal kacang'', or ''pecel'' is an Indonesian sauce made from ground roasted or fried peanuts, widely used in Indonesian cuisine and many other dishes throughout the world. Peanut s ...

'' (spicy peanut sauce). Bugis and Makassar people often consumed ''burasa'' as a replacement to steamed rice or ''ketupat'', usually accompanied with ''

coto Makassar Coto Makassar or Coto Mangkasara ( Makassarese), is an Indonesian traditional soup originating from Makassar, South Sulawesi. It is a variant of '' soto,'' traditionally made with beef, offal stew with seasoned broth made from ground peanuts a ...

'', '' konro'', ''

pallubasa Pallubasa or Pallu basa is a traditional dish from Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is similar to coto Makassar; however, while both are primarily made from offal and/or meat of cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domest ...

'', or ''lekku''. They also often took ''burasa'' as food provisions or rations during sailing or travelling.

References

{{Malaysian cuisine Makassar cuisine Malaysian cuisine Indonesian rice dishes Vegetarian dishes of Indonesia Foods containing coconut Steamed foods

See also

References