Arem-arem (chicken rice cake) is a popular indonesian snack made from rice boiled in coconut milk. the rice mixture is then stuffed with savory filling that can be customized according to your taste, but the most common one is chicken meat or chicken liver cooked in fried sambal. a version of this dish even requires a thin sheet of cooked egg for layering the rice before wrapped in banana leaf. however, a beginner should start with the easiest version like this basic arem-arem recipe.
rice cake ingredients:
250 grams rice,cleanly washed
600 ml coconut milkfrom ½ coconut
1½ teaspoons salt
1 pandan leaf
banana leaves for wrapping
stuffing ingredients:
3 cloves garlic,finely chopped
2 red bird’s eye chili peppers,finely sliced
3 curly red chili peppers,finely chopped
100 grams minced chicken
150 grams tofu,diced and fried quickly
100 grams carrot,finely diced
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper powder
100 ml water
1 scallion, finely sliced
1 tablespoon cooking oilfor sautéing
1. Stuffing: sauté garlic, bird’s eye chili peppers, and curly red chili peppers until fragrant. Add minced chicken. Stir it until it changes color. Add tofu and carrot. Stir it well. Add light soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir it until all ingredients are mixed evenly. Pour in water and cook it until the liquid is absorbed into the ingredients. Set it aside.
2. Rice cake: boil coconut milk, salt, and pandan leaf until bubbling. Add rice. Cook until the liquid is fully absorbed into the rice and the mixture becomes thick.
3. Put a little bit rice mixture on banana leaf. Spoon the stuffing on top of it. Form it into a dense and firm cylinder. Close the banana leaf wrapper and secure the ends with toothpicks.
4. Steam it over medium heat for 1 ½ hours until well-cooked. Remove from heat.
5. Arem-Arem (Chicken Rice Cake) is ready to serve.
