Lontong / Rice Cake

What is lontong?

Lontong is compressed mashed rice that is commonly found in Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. There are two types of lontong: plain lontong and filled lontong. Filled lontong is usually filled with vegetables and oncom (Oncom is closely related to tempeh, fermented soybeans). Lontong is usually served at room temperature with food from Java, like opor and soto. You can also serve it with peanut sauce dishes like sate/satay or Gado-Gado.

There are several Indonesian compressed rice dishes: lontong, buras, and ketupat. Lontong is wrapped in banana leaf and has a cylindrical shape. For lontong, the rice is placed inside a banana leaf and boiled. Buras is also wrapped in banana leaves but the rice is boiled instead in a mixture of coconut milk, shredded coconut, and salt. You can find Buras in Makassar cuisine. Ketupat is wrapped in a diamond shaped container of woven young coconut leaf or palm leaf. Ketupat is usually eaten during Eid and is served with rendang or gulai.

In today’s blog post, I’m going to share the easy/alternative version of lontong or ketupat. You only need rice and a container. No wrapping needed!

Tips

• You can use any type of rice. If you are using Jasmine rice, the rice and water ratio should be 1:3. I personally like to use sushi rice. When using sushi rice, I use 1:1 for my rice and water ratio.
• Use saran wrap to prevent sticking and easily maneuver the rice.

Lontong / Rice Cake

Recipe by Catherine RicardoCourse: MainCuisine: IndonesianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Calories

103

kcal

Easy rice cake with no wrapping needed!

Ingredients

• 2 cups of sushi rice

• 2 cups of water

Directions

• Wash and rinse the rice until it’s no longer cloudy or until the rice grains are visible through the water.
• Transfer the clean rice to a rice cooker. Add water and press the cook button.
• Once the rice is cooked, move the rice into a large bowl and mash it with a potato masher.
• Spread the mashed rice in a container and compress the rice. You can also use a dough scraper to help you smooth the surface and to make it flat and even.
• Let it cool completely before serving.