wajik - brown sticky rice cake

my dad now has been the frequent readers of my blog. he gives a lot of supportive ideas about this blog and also about the photographs. he was the person who first introducing me to the world of photography back when i was a toddler. sadly, i didn't develop too much skill on it even until now. hahaha. however, one interesting idea that my dad has told me is to create more indonesian traditional sweet foods. traditional? yes. as an Indonesian, i think it's an obligation for me to master all those traditional Indonesian food or desserts, but in fact i don't. making Asian dishes is not an easy one for me, Asian dishes are so rich in spices and flavor, it feels complicated to really get a perfect balance of all those spices and ingredients. that's why, once the dish has been done perfectly, Asian dishes will give you the superb explosion of flavors in your mouth.

wajik literally means diamond shape. in case you wonder how to spell it, it should be like this: 'waa-jeek'. in terms of food, wajik is a sliced sticky rice cake, it is flavored by caramelized palm sugar and coconut milk. it is very simple to make, just cook the glutinous rice in the boiled and reduced palm sugar-coconut milk syrup until all the syrup has been absorbed, then we spread the rice into a lined baking-pan and let it cool. when it has reached the room temperature, slice it into diamond shape. i think any people would love this cake, from whatever nation you are. i mean, who doesn't like the richness of coconut milk? and who can resist a caramelized sugar?

this cake is one of our favorite among those traditional Indonesian desserts. my mom, dad, and siblings love them tweaked with durian flavor, not me though. i don't really like durian. in this post, i will give you the original recipe also the durian flavored wajik recipe. for the first-time wajik-eater, i think it would be wiser for you to try the original one first and then you may go to the next step with durian flavor. come on, try it and tell me what you think about it! :)

Wajik / Brown Sticky Rice Cake

1000 gr white glutinous rice
250 gr palm sugar
750 ml coconut milk (naturally from 1,5 coconut)
salt to taste
3 pandan leaves
10 pieces of durian fleshes, juiced (optional) -- preferably an almost ripened
banana leaves
vegetable oil

directions:

1. soak the glutinous rice overnight and steam until it is half cooked. remove, set aside and let cool.
2. cook the palm sugar, coconut milk, salt and pandan (and the optional durian juice) together, stir from time to time and bring it to a boil. reduce the mixture into 2/3.
3. add the glutinous rice into the syrup and stir until the rice has cooked and the syrup has all been absorbed. let cool for a while, until slightly warm.
4. line a baking sheet with oiled banana leaves. pour the glutinous rice mixture onto the banana leaves and spread evenly to a thickness of approximately 2,5 cm.
5. let cool, it will be harden by then. cut into diamond shapes and serve.

that's all for the recipe. it's easy and simple. 

thanks for reading everyone!

have a very good day!