black porridge

There will come a point where every Malaysian will have his/her food cravings. Even more so if you're a Penangite. Maybe its just me, but Penang food cooked anywhere else (you name it - Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, London, you get the drift) just doesn't taste the same. You can never find the same Asam Laksa and Rojak (buah, for you sorts from Kuala Lumpur) like they make it in Penang. So adding the word 'Penang' in front of any dish sold outside of Penang is just, well, ridiculous.

My favourite dessert from back home would have to be Bubur Pulut Hitam. And now there is a little voice in my head saying "Cendol too, don't forget cendol", but I'll have to leave it be for now because this post is not about you, Cendol.

I had my first taste of Australian Bubur Pulut Hitam at the Asian Noodle House restaurant in Canberra City a few months back. Funny how it was called Wild Rice when it was sure as hell Bubut Pulut Hitam. Maybe it was a ploy to call it something exotic instead of Black Glutinous Porridge. Yeah, okay. I can see their reasoning for that now.

Finding black glutinous rice (note to self: Canadian wild rice is not black glutinous rice) was difficult, but hardly any trouble compared to my next ingredient - pandan leaves! Acquiring two stalks of pandan (screwpine) leaves had taken me on a 45-minute-walk to Dickson: Canberra's Asian Central suburb. I remember entering the first Asian grocer I saw. I can't for the life of me remember what the store was called, but for some odd reason, I remember it being adjacent to a Vietnamese restaurant called Phu Pho Quoc (I tried saying Phu Pho Quoc out really quickly and, well...that is not a very decent name for restaurant!)

Out of pure excitement, I shimmied passed the mild Vietnamese chatter at the counter and headed right for the fridges and freezers at the back of the store, and I am pretty sure I must have looked crazy when I found what I was looking for. Even slightly psychotic. I have to admit - I overstocked on those leaves. Ten stalks are not the equivalent of two.

Another 45-minutes home and I was cooking away like my grandmother (except for the fact that I am not that great of a cook). I got my recipe off RasaMalaysia, and the result:

Oh, and now I have eight remaining stalks. Whatever shall I cook next. Oh! I know, I know! Kaya!

And for the record, I don't think anyone can comprehend the thought of craving Bubur Pulut Hitam for a whole month.