Junay
Rice cooked with coconut milk and toasted coconut, then wrapped in banana leaf. A portable packed meal from Sulu and Basilan, usually eaten with a boiled egg or fried fish.
- Time
- 1 hr
- Serves
- 6
- Steps
- 7
- Ingredients
- 9
Method
- 01
Toast the grated coconut in a dry pan until deep brown and fragrant, then set it aside.
- 02
Fry the garlic and ginger briefly in a little oil, then add the washed rice and turn it through for 2 minutes.
- 03
Add the coconut milk, water, turmeric and salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and cook on the lowest heat for 18 minutes.
- 04
Rest the rice covered, off the heat, for 10 minutes before opening the pot.
- 05
Fork the toasted coconut through the warm rice.
- 06
Pass the banana leaves briefly over a flame until they turn glossy and pliable - unsoftened leaves crack when you fold them.
- 07
Spoon rice onto each leaf, fold into tight parcels, and steam 10 minutes so the leaf perfumes the rice.
Cooking Tips
- Do not lift the lid while the rice cooks. The steam is doing the work.
- The banana leaf is not just packaging - the 10 minute steam at the end is where the aroma comes from.
Ingredient Substitutions
- Baking paper works if you cannot get banana leaves, though you lose the scent.
- Glutinous rice gives a stickier, denser parcel; plain rice stays lighter.
What to Serve With It
- Eaten as a packed meal with a hard-boiled egg, fried fish or grilled chicken.
Storage and Reheating
- Keeps 2 days wrapped. Re-steam the parcels rather than microwaving them.
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