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Wednesday 10 September 2008 (10 Ramadan 1429)
Feasting in Ramadan: Asian style
Miral Fahmy | Reuters
Aromatic beef porridge. Spicy snails. Rich mutton and wheat
stew. Sweet vermicelli milk pudding, and lots and lots of dates. Ramadan may be
a month of fasting, but for many Asian Muslims it's a gastronomical feast.
Food is as much a part of Ramadan, the holy month, which
began last week, as religious fervor, with Muslims devoting many hours to
cooking the perfect meal to break the dawn-to-dusk fast.
The month is also a time for charity, with many mosques and
wealthier Muslims donating or cooking food for the poor. "Ramadan is a big
celebration for us in Asia, with a lot of special foods," said Ichwan Syam,
secretary-general of the Indonesian Ulema Council, the leading Islamic
legislative body in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
"Food is almost symbolic. It helps the poor, reminds Muslims
of their social responsibility. It brings families together and it also brings
joy after a day of fasting," he said.
In Indonesia, no Ramadan would be complete without kolak, a
refreshing dish made from coconut milk, starch, sugar and fruits, which is
eaten as an appetizer at the fast-breaking meal.
Kraca, a modest version of the French escargot, is also a
favorite starter. It is made from fresh paddy-field snails, washed and shells
pierced, that are boiled with lemongrass, spices and best enjoyed by sucking
the fiery liquid and picking out the flesh with a stick.
To finish off the meal, most Indonesians eat timun suri, a
tropical, pale yellow fruit shaped like a papaya but with white juicy flesh,
which is chopped and tossed with a milky syrup and topped with shaved ice.
In Malaysia, Ramadan means bubur lambuk, a special rice
porridge cooked and distributed for free by the centrally located Kampung Baru
mosque, one of Kuala Lumpur's most famous, for more than 50 years.
Every day, hundreds of Muslims queue for hours to get a taste
of the famed porridge, which was originally made by one of the mosque's former
imams. "It's really nice, I can't wait for Ramadan to taste the porridge," said
office worker Fareedah Hussein.
The exact recipe is a closely guarded secret but ingredients
include coconut milk, beef, dried shrimps, ginger, cinnamon, star anise, cumin,
Chinese celery, onions and fried shallots
