Lontong (Malay Compressed Rice)

Traditional Malay Recipes, p. 51

2 cups rice (washed and drained)

4 cups boiling water

Cook rice in the water till soft.

Soft rice. Check.

Transfer to a shallow rectangular dish. Place a banana leaf over and press on it till rice is firmly packed.

Stand a weight on it and leave aside till rice is cold.

We were fresh out of banana leaves. Luckily, we found an aluminum foil tree.

First attempt at "a weight:" Knowledge. 

That wasn't heavy enough. So we added corn.

Finally, a literal weight. And a casserole dish. And some elbow grease.

Turn out and cut into cubes. 

It didn't get as compressed as it could have, but it was a good effort.

And very cube-y.

Behold! A cube.

That's very important. To be a cube. 

Serve with satay, sambal kacang (peanut sambal) or masak lodeh (vegetable in coconut milk). 

Or, with store-bought red curry and Corn on the Cob. If you're awesome.

My Rating: 3/5 "It would have helped if the recipe specified exactly how long to squish it. But it turned out pretty neato anyway."