Raya orders pour in for ‘lemang meriam’
WITH Ramadan coming to an end and Syawal approaching, the lemang business is booming. People are queuing up at their favourite lemang stalls for the traditional delicacy.
Lemang entrepreneur Zainal Abidin Bakar, 55, who has been in the business for 15 years, is making giant-sized lemang this year.
Not wanting to stick to the traditional size, he cooks the lemang, which is glutinous rice mixed with coconut milk, in bamboo sticks measuring between 130cm and 170cm in length. He has named it “lemang meriam” or “cannon lemang”.
“This lemang is called such because of the length of the bamboo. The bamboo is 170cm long and looks like a cannon,” he said at his stall in Kampung Pasir Putih.
Zainal Abidin said he could make only 30 to 50 sticks of the gigantic lemang every day because they took longer to cook.
“The response from customers has been good and for Hari Raya alone, I have received orders for 200 sticks.”
He gets his weekly supply of 500 sticks of bamboo from the Orang Asli village in Pos Raya, Simpang Pulai.
Zainal Abidin said his lemang was sold at Ramadan bazaars in Medan Gopeng, Batu Gajah, and Perak Stadium.
“The lemang meriam requires 1kg of rice and must be cooked over open fire for an hour to 1½ hours.
“Since the bamboo is long, it is heavy, and turning it is difficult. The bamboo has to be turned often to ensure the rice is cooked well and evenly. It also requires a bigger fire, which needs monitoring.”
He said most of his customers would buy the lemang with rendang tok, which is also available at his stall.