What's Cooking - Pulot Hitam!

Peranakan cuisine is one that I really like. Introduced to a wide variety of dishes by the hubs when we first started dating (my in laws stayed at the peranakan stretch in the east for some years) it was actually not quite love at first bite for me. Primarily because with a Cantonese mum, nice cuisine to me then was steamed dishes and soups; I was terrible with spicy food.

After trying it slowly over the next few years, I grew to really like the layers of flavors and the blend of spices. 

I am not a dessert lover but I did sample Pulot Hitam when I was young and perhaps it's because it's slightly chewy or perhaps it's because of the slightly salty coconut milk that balances the sweetness of the dish; it is one dessert when I enjoy.

It is not hard to cook but does take a few hours to prepare and cook, primarily due to the fact that the rice takes a while to soften.

My mum-in-law prepared this dish a bit differently - with orange peel and... mata kuching. Here's our simple home recipe to share. 

:: The gathering list

- 1 Cup (200g) Black Glutinous Rice

(Washed and I soaked it overnight)

- 3 pandan leaves, washed and knotted

- 1 orange peel (I used an entire piece with 4 'petals')

- 10-12 pieces of dried longan (mata kuching)

- 80-100 gm of palm sugar (gula melaka)

(I went for 80 because of the dried longan used)

- 6 - 7 cups of water (depending how 'thick' a consistency you like)

The coconut milk

- 100 ml Coconut Milk with 1-2 pinches of fine salt (I heat this over the stove to melt the salt)

:: The cookout

1. Place pandan leaves and water to boil 

2. Add sugar and dried longans and continue to boil water on medium fire

3. Add glutinous rice and stir well

4. Simmer on low fire (we simmered for about 90 - 100 mins)

Serve hot with coconut milk (mentioned above)

This is part of a 'What's Cooking' blog train / party where, together with some blogger mummy friends, on the second week of each month (from Sept - Nov), we will be bringing you home recipes featuring different 'cuisines'. :) Please click the button below and visit regularly as links will be updated :)

Please join us tomorrow as I have Irene Soh who will be sharing with us her Pulut Panggang recipe. A mother of 3 (yes, 3 and she's still so slim!) she started blogging since 2005 on Family, Travel, Food, Fashion & Photography.