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Food heritage all the rage with Tempeh and Burasak in the spotlight

A Bugis cooking demo for making Burasak. (Photo: Malay Heritage Centre)
A Bugis cooking demo for making Burasak. (Photo: Malay Heritage Centre)

Singapore heritage just got a lot more yummy, with the spotlight currently on our diverse food heritage. Best of all, some of these dishes are still around today in shops and homes.

For example, Burasak – the Bugis version of Ketupat – which originated during the Bugis community’s seafaring days, is still available today at shops in Geylang. It is also served during festive occasions among the Malays in Singapore.

One of the mainstay dishes in Bugis cooking, Burasak is a rectangular rice dumpling encased in banana leaf. This differs from a Ketupat, which is wrapped with coconut palm leaves.

Burasak is part of Singapore’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). During parliamentary debates last week, Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, said that the question of what would be Singapore’s first item on UNESCO’s ICH Representative List is now under consideration.

In a National Heritage Board (NHB) poll this year, more than 3,000 respondents felt very strongly about food. They suggested Singapore hawker food such as Rojak, Bak Kut Teh, Thosai or Char Kway Teow as the item.

Dishes such as Burasak, Roti Boyan and Tempeh which originated from multi-ethnic Malay communities have also been in the spotlight.

Last month, volunteers from the community presented cooking demos on dishes such as Roti Boyan and Burasak at the Malay Heritage Centre (MHC).

As part of MHC’s Pesta Pusaka & Seni culture fest, these programmes are intended to showcase the intangible heritage of the different Malay sub-ethnic communities in Singapore.

Burasak is steamed rice wrapped in young banana leaf. (Photo: Malay Heritage Centre)
Burasak is steamed rice wrapped in young banana leaf. (Photo: Malay Heritage Centre)

Speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore, Ibrahim Ariff, Vice-President of the Malay Bugis Society, said, “Bugis are travellers from Sulawesi, Indonesia, and they would travel all the way to the Middle East. Therefore, on their journeys they might find new dishes to add to their dishes but Burasak is an original dish.”

Due to it being wrapped in leaves, Burasak could easily be brought along whenever the Bugis wanted to set sail. “Because it is rice … you have to hold it very nicely otherwise it will be scattered about. But once wrapped in a banana leaf, you can tie 10 or 20 in a bundle and just throw it and the other men would catch it. Even if it falls down, it won’t scatter,” said Ibrahim.

Burasak is a must-have for Ibrahim and his family during festive occasions, but most Malays traditionally blend this dish with Rendang and other curry dishes. Burasak is also sold at one or two shops in Geylang, and in Johor.

Ibrahim said Burasak is not sold more widely because it is difficult to find the requisite young banana leaves in Singapore. “If it’s an old banana leaf, the taste may not be right and there will be some rust colour, so it needs to be young banana leaf. That way you can have the aroma and the green colour once it is cooked,” said Ibrahim.

Making of Tempeh. (Photo: Suryakenchana)
Making of Tempeh. (Photo: Suryakenchana)

Another popularly known food heritage dish is Tempeh, which is Javanese in origin.

Most commonly found in Sambal Goreng (chilli sambal mixed with different ingredients like tofu), there are even vegan burgers which use tempeh.

According to Suryakenchana Omar, Honorary Secretary, Javanese Association of Singapore, Tempeh is one of the main dishes in the Javanese community.

Tempeh originated on the island of Java, at least several centuries ago. At that time, the people of Java, without formal training in microbiology or chemistry, developed a remarkable family of fermented foods called tempeh, the most popular being soy tempeh.

“Over the years we have been conducting workshops, showcases of how to make tempeh and today what we plan to have a demo on making the dishes with tempeh,” Surya said.

It is simple to make from scratch and can be prepared by anyone.

“The ingredients which we look at for tempeh does not cost so much – the practice of making tempeh is easy to sustain throughout the community all these years,” he added.

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