Bubur Sumsum (Indonesian Rice Flour Pudding with Palm Sugar)

About This Recipe

Bubur sumsum is a traditional Indonesian dessert porridge made from rice flour cooked slowly in coconut milk until it turns thick, smooth and slightly stretchy, a texture closer to a soft pudding than a grainy porridge. Despite its name meaning bone-marrow porridge, referring to its pale, silky appearance rather than any actual ingredient, it's a purely coconut-and-rice-based dessert found at markets and street stalls across Indonesia. The technique depends on patient, constant stirring — rice flour can clump and scorch easily as it thickens in hot coconut milk, so the mixture needs steady attention over medium-low heat until it reaches a smooth, pourable-but-thick consistency. Pandan leaf, simmered in the coconut milk while it cooks, gives the pudding a subtle green fragrance traditional to many Indonesian sweets. Served warm in a bowl with a generous pour of kinca, a dark palm sugar syrup, over the top, bubur sumsum's plain, milky sweetness is balanced by the syrup's deep caramel bitterness, a pairing found throughout Indonesian coconut-based desserts.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 0.75 cuprice flour
• 0.25 cupcold water
• 2.5 cupscoconut milk
• 2pandan leaves(tied in a knot, or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
• 0.25 tspfine sea salt
• 1 cuppalm sugar (gula jawa)(chopped or grated)
• 0.75 cupwater(for syrup)
• 1pandan leaf(for syrup, optional)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the rice flour slurry

   Whisk rice flour into cold water until completely smooth with no lumps.

2. 2

   Heat the coconut milk

   In a saucepan, combine coconut milk, pandan leaves and salt. Heat over medium heat until steaming but not boiling.

3. 3

   Thicken the pudding

   Gradually whisk the rice flour slurry into the warm coconut milk. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, 8-10 minutes until thick, smooth and glossy.

   Stir constantly and don't walk away — rice flour thickens quickly and can form stubborn lumps or scorch on the bottom within a minute of neglect.

4. 4

   Make the palm sugar syrup

   In a separate small saucepan, combine palm sugar, water and pandan leaf if using. Simmer 8-10 minutes until slightly thickened and syrupy. Strain and keep warm.

5. 5

   Serve

   Discard the pandan leaves from the pudding. Spoon warm pudding into bowls and pour the palm sugar syrup generously over the top.

Variations

• •

  Add a layer of black sticky rice or grass jelly at the bottom of the bowl before adding the pudding, a common variation.

• •

  Use a mix of coconut milk and coconut cream for an even richer, silkier pudding.

• •

  Sweeten the pudding itself slightly with a tablespoon of sugar if you prefer more sweetness before the syrup is added.

Storage

Best eaten warm and fresh, as the texture firms up considerably once chilled. Refrigerate leftovers up to 2 days and reheat gently over low heat with a splash of coconut milk stirred in to loosen it back to a smooth, pourable consistency.

Frequently Asked Questions