Lemper ~ Glutinous Rice Wrapped in Banana Leaves

Lemper (it’s well-known as lemper ayam) is one of the most popular Indonesian dishes made of steamed glutinous rice filled with spiced chicken floss (or other meat floss or fish floss, but chicken seems to be the most familiar and delicious). The filling is rolled inside the rice—in a fashion similar to egg roll—and individually wrapped in banana leaves to hold its shape.  Lemper is most often seen as snack to be had on the go, but in more formal setting may sometimes be served as appetizers as well.

The glutinous rice used in making lemper doesn’t mean the rice has gluten in it, but it has a high starch content causing it to stick to itself, which is helpful in rolling out lemper.  The way Indonesian people eat it is by grilling or steaming the banana leaves wrapping so that the fragrance of the leaves could be absorbed into the rice.  I’ve eaten both steamed and grilled lemper at room temperature and warm, but the grilled and warm lemper is my preference.

I had been thinking of making lemper for quite sometimes, but I never have a chance to do it until last week. I still use the same old traditional recipe, but since I never taught how to cook it step by step, so I just rely on my memory of how it tastes like and on some recipes from different sources. It takes hours to make lemper but when you’re done making it, trust me, it’s worth the time. These lemper are literally fun to prepare, make mouths water and provide enough to freeze or share with friends.  I  wouldn’t hesitate packing these for a road trip, plane ride, or hike J

The ingredients for lemper are not difficult to come by and can be found at your local Asian market. Traditionally, lemper is made individually by taking a large tablespoon of sticky rice onto banana leaf square, then flattened to ½ inch thickness before putting a full teaspoon of filling in the center, shaped into a mound covering the filling, and wrapped by rolling the banana leaf.  I skip this individually shaped part because it’s time consuming and prefer  to use a faster way. I use a square baking pan (you can use a box shaped cake mold).  Spread half of the steamed glutinous rice onto a pan, press, spread the chicken stuffing, press, then spread another half of the rice on top of the stuffing, and press again.  Cut into individual portions and wrap in banana leaves. Ready to serve or you can steam or grill before serving.

For recipe in Indonesian click HERE 

Ingredients:

4 large sheets of banana leaf
Glutinous rice

·         1.000 g white glutinous rice, soak for 2-3 hours

·         700 ml coconut milk

·         3 pandan (screwpine) leaves

·         3 bay leaves

·         1 tsp salt

Spiced chicken stuffing

·         500 g boneless skinless chicken breasts, boiled

·         5 shallots, peeled and chopped

·         5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

·         1 tsp cumin seeds

·         2 tbsp ground coriander

·         1 stalks lemongrass, bruised

·         2 bay leaves

·         2 kaffir lime leaves

·         4 tbsp granulated sugar

·         1 tsp salt

·         ½ tsp ground pepper

·         5 cm galangal, peeled and chopped

·         2 cm ginger, peeled and chopped

·         1 tbsp tamarind juice

·         100 ml coconut milk

·         2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:

Glutinous/Sticky Rice

1.       Rinse the rice to wash out the excess starch.  Place rice in a steamed proof bowl and steam for 20 m minutes until half cooked. Set aside.

2.       Boil coconut milk, pandan leaves, bay leaves, and salt in a pot.  Add the steamed glutinous rice and cook over low heat until all the liquid has been absorbed by the rice.

3.       Remove the rice and return into the steaming bowl.  Steam for another 30 minutes until it’s fully cooked.  Stir and discard all the leaves.  Keep warm.

You can also cook the rice with rice cooker: put all the ingredients into a rice cooker, add in enough water, and cook. Stirring well, discard all leaves.  If the rice has not been fully cooked, add a bit of water and cook again.

Spiced chicken stuffing

1.       Shred the chicken breast.

2.       Using a food processor or pestle and mortar, grind together shallot, garlic, galangal, ginger, cumin seed, and coriander into a fine paste.

3.       Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large frying pan.  Sauté the spiced paste until fragrant.  Add lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, bay leaves, tamarind juice, and coconut milk. Bring to boil.

4.       Put in the shredded chicken, season with salt, pepper, and sugar.  Stir and cook until all the liquid is fully absorbed by the chicken and runs out.  Remove from heat, discard the leaves and lemongrass.  Set aside.

Making the lemper

1.       Place evenly and press half of the glutinous rice as thick as 0.5 inch in an oiled square baking pan (I use 12 x 12 inch) or you can put a sheet of banana leaves on the pan so the lemper can be easily removed.

2.       Put all the chicken stuffing and spread evenly above the rice.  Take the remaining of the rice, place and spread evenly as thick as 0.5 inch again on top. Press evenly.

3.       Using an oiled knife, cut a big lemper into individual portions.  If you are using the same size of pan as mine, it will give you 36 pieces.

Half wrapped in banana leaves

Fully wrapped in banana leaves and ready to steam or grill

4.       Cut the washed banana leaves into ± 3x6 inch.  Wrap stacked glutinous rice with banana leaf sheets.

5.       Steam  for ±10 minutes or grill on a barbecue until charred on both sides.  It will smell and taste better.  Serve at once.

Bahasa Indonesia
Bahan:

Ketan

·         1.000 g beras ketan putih, rendam selama 2-3 jam

·         700 ml santan

·         3 helai daun pandan

·         3 helai daun salam

·         2 sdt garam

Bahan isi

·         500 g dada aym tanpa tulang, rebus

·         5 siung bawang merah

·         5 siung bawang putih

·         1 sdt jinten

·         2 sdm ketumbar

·         1 batang sereh, memarkan

·         2 helai daun salam

·         2 helai daun jeruk

·         4 sdm gula pasir

·         1 sdt garam

·         ½ sdt merica bubuk

·         5 cm lengkuas

·         2 cm jahe

·         1 tbsp air asam jawa (atau air perasan jeruk)

·         100 ml santan

·         2 sdm minyak sayur

Cara:

Ketan

1.       Cuci dan bersihkan beras ketan yang sudah direndam.  Kukus selama 20 menit sampai setengah matang.   Sisihkan.

2.       Rebus santan bersama dengan daun pandan, daun salam, dan garam.   Masukkan ketan setengah matang dan masak dengan api kecil sampai santan terserap oleh ketan.

3.       Angkat ketan dan kukus kembali selama 30 menit sampai ketan matang.  Aduk dan buang semua dedaunan.  Biarkan tetap hangat.

Anda dapat memasak dengan menggunakan penanak nasi: masukkan semua bahan ke dalam penanak nasi, tambahkan air sesuai petunjuk pemakain, lalu masak.  Aduk dan buang semua dedaunan.  Jika ketan belum matang, Anda bisa menambahkan sedikit air dan masak kembali sampai matang.

Bahan isi

1.       Suwir-suwir danging ayam.

2.       Haluskan bawang merah, bawang putih, lengkuas, jahe, jinten, dan ketumbar dengan menggunakan food processor atau cobek.

3.       Panaskan minyak sayur.  Tumis bumbu halus sampai wangi.  Masukkan sereh, daun jeruk, daun salam, air asam jawa, dan santan.  Masak sampai mendidih.

4.       Masukkan ayam suwir, bumbui dengan garam, gula, dan merica.  Aduk-aduk terus sampai semua cairan terserap ayam dan habis.  Angkat, buang semua dedaunan, dan sisihkan.

Membuat lemper

1.       Taruh dan tekan-tekan secara merata setengah bagian ketan setebal 0.5 inch di loyang  persegi yang telah diolesi minyak (saya memakai loyang ukuran 12x12 inch) atau loyang yang telah dialasi dengan daun pisang.

2.       Taruh semua isian di atasnya. Ratakan.  Tutup dengan semua sisa ketan yang ada setebal 0.5 inch. Tekan-tekan, padatkan dan ratakan.

3.       Potong sesuai selera menggunakan pisau yang telah diolesi minyak.  Dengan loyang ukuran 12x12 inch, saya mendapatkan 36 potong lemper.

4.       Potong daun pisang ± 3x6 inch.  Bungkus setiap potongan lemper dengan 2 lembar daun pisang secara vertikal dan horizontal.

5.       Kukus selama ±10 menit atau panggang di atas pangganagn barbecue sampai sedikit terbakar kedua sisi daunnya. Sajikan segera.