BERSUNGKEI or the evergreen bubur pedas is a traditional dish for breaking of fast during Ramadan.

Preparing this special delicacy takes well-honed finesse but to bersungkei expert, Siti Jamilah Maleng, it’s not just the ability to serve the food — despite the meticulous attention to detail involved — after fasting during the holy month that matters but also the importance of preserving a tradition dating back many generations.

She has taught her daughter and daughter-in-law how to prepare bubur pedas and although it’s time-consuming, they are very keen to learn, especially her daughter-in-law from peninsular Malaysia.

She said during Ramadan, the womenfolk would get together to make a big pot of bersungkei for breaking of fast. It is also a practice among the Muslim community in Sarawak to give some to neighbours and friends.

“Bubur pedas is the perfect dish when you are with your family and close friends. Because it takes time to prepare, we tend to make it only during keramaian (festivals),” said the 66-year-old former nurse at her house at Kampung No 6 in Satok.

“I actually learned it from my late mother after I got married. I felt it would be such a pity for the tradition to be forgotten,” she recalled.

Siti Jamilah said she never knew the origin of the dish and why it only appeared during Ramadan.

“I can never understand why they only serve it during this time. Perhaps it’s because the paste is only made and sold at a specific time. I believe that’s reason.”

The mother of four said since the paste was now readily available throughout the year, she could prepare bersungkei whenever she had the time.

She said the essence of bubur pedas is the yellowish and grainy paste which gives the delicacy its distinctive one-of-a-kind taste.

“The main ingredient is the paste — without it, the dish is incomplete.

“The paste is what makes bubur pedas special. It produces a unique taste — the ingredients complement one another,” Siti Jamilah said.

She disclosed that the time taken to cook this culinary delight is about one and a half to two hours, adding that the most time-consuming and tedious part was readying the ingredients.

“The green vegetables and leaves must be sliced finely while the potatoes must be diced. This process alone takes about half an hour to one hour.”

She revealed her personal recipe included either beef or dried prawns although some people also used cow skin burnt to get rid of the fur.

“Once the hard part is over, the cooking is a breeze.”

Although the paste is used originally to make bubur pedas, organisations such as State Farmers’ Organisation (SFO) have developed a brand name for this cottage-industry product — DesaBest. The SFO has even diversified the use of the paste to prepare fish, chicken (coated with bubur pedas paste) and beef (cooked with bumbu).

Bubur pedas paste, promoted by the Women’s Economic Development and Agriculture (Weida), received good response from visitors to the Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism (MAHA) exposition 2008 in Serdang, Selangor, last month.

Previously, Bubur pedas was only served at Malay homes and distributed at suraus and mosques. But it is now accepted by people in peninsular Malaysia and tourists and has gained its place in the Ramadan buffet spread at five-star hotels.

However, Malaysia, well-known for its diverse cuisines, also boasts a variety of porridges and each is peculiar to a specific state.

For instance, there is the much-talked about bubur lambuk, made famous by the Kampung Baru mosque in Kuala Lumpur, the bubur chacha from Melaka and an array of bubur Asyura from different places in the country.

The traditional bubur lambuk or savoury porridge is light and easy on the stomach for those who have been fasting the whole day, and yet nourishing as it is filled with all kinds of herbs and seasonings.

For those with a sweet tooth, there is the delicious bubur chacha made of fragrant pandan and creamy coconut sweet thick soup with chunks of yam, potatoes and jelly. This dessert is best served chilled or hot.

Meanwhile, the bubur Asyura is prepared only on 10 Muharram in the Muslim Calendar — the Asyura Day.

The special thing about the bubur Asyura is that it must be prepared with 10 ingredients and different states, especially in peninsular Malaysia, use different ingredients for different tastes.

There are normally three kinds of bubur Asyura — sweet type (mainly from northern peninsular Malaysia), porridge with various spices and meat (mainly from eastern peninsular Malaysia) and the variety with various ingredients such as banana and green peas (mainly from Singapore).