The making of Burasak, a Bugis traditional food.

"Pos laju yang tak laju". Parcel was sent from Sabah on Wednesday morning and was tracked at Shah Alam at 7 am the next day (Thursday). Then, it was sent to Rawang and stayed there until I called asking for its whereabout at 2pm Friday. They said it would be delivered before 6 pm. It was but I had to go out. They didn't call when they arrived or I would have told them to pass it to one of my neighbors. They left a notification telling us to collect it the next day at Rawang which was more than half-an-hour away. I was in a fix when I read it because..OMG, the contents would be already spoilt. I called Pos Laju and ordered them to deliver it that very night. When I got it, I know straight away, the large fried prawns and mackerel fish were already wasted. However, I was really relieved and happy that the most important content, the BURAS, were still not spoilt. I ate one and kept the rest frozen for 2 weeks till Eidul Adha and finished them to the last bite!

What's so special about the buras? One, I don't know how to make them but my mother is an expert.  Buras to the Bugis people is like ketupat to the Malays, a traditional food eaten on special days like the Eid celebrations. It's as laborious in the making as the ketupat and in the old times, they were cooked the whole night with firewoods and they could last long.

I have been keeping the pictures of how the buras was made which my daughter took when we celebrated Raya in Sabah, 2 years ago. 

 Rice and coconut milk are mixed (I don't know the measurements). Salt is also added.

 Special banana leaves were selected. The wrong ones would make the buras rice dark when cooked.

 The wrapped buras is then flattened using horizontal rubbing movement as shown.

 Thick thread is tied thightly around a stack of three wrapped buras. 

 The buras are boiled in a deep pot of water for several hours.

The leaves color of the cooked buras.

At home, buras is eaten with 'Ayam Masak Putih',' Rendang Ayam-Kacang', 'Serunding Ikan' or simple fried prawns.

Since I didn't have the Bugis rendang during the recent eidul adha, I ate it with 'Rendang Daging' and 'Sambal Ikan Bilis' and leftover 'Serunding Ikan'.

This is a fried mixture of grated coconuts with fish meat, in other words, "serunding ikan".  This is is usually the condiment for the Bugis yellow rice (below) but can also be eaten with buras. I might write another post on 'nasi kuning Sabah' later, Insya Allah.

Thank you for reading and visit me again.