Wajik kelapa or coconut wajik wrapped in dried corn husks.
The main ingredients of wajik areglutinous rice,palm sugar, and coconut milk. The high content of sugar serves as a natural preservative since sugar inhibits the growth of microbes. A correctly produced and packaged wajik could last for up to two weeks.[3] To enhance the aroma, wajik is often enhanced with aromatic ingredients such aspandan,vanilla, orbrown sugar anddurian.[1]: 11 A variant calledwajik kelapa usescoconut and palm sugar.
Wajik have various shapes, but the most famous one is the rhombus or parallelogram.[1]: 12 In Indonesia, several shapes of wajik include square, rectangular, rhombus, parallelogram, cylindrical, and rounded. They can be served bare or wrapped inside banana leaves or dyed corn husks.
Wajik is believed to originate fromJava,Indonesia.[4][5][1]: 11 Dishes and confectionaries with the combination ofsticky rice andpalm sugar have a long history in Java. One of the earliest mentions of wajik is found in the Javanese manuscript Nawaruci, written by Empu Siwamurti and dated from theMajapahit period.[4]
Subsequently, wajik has occupied certain roles inJavanese tradition, for example, theNumplak Wajik orTumplak Wajik ceremony,[6] held byKeraton Yogyakarta as part ofGrebeg Muludan during theSekaten festival.[7]
In Brunei, this confection is known aswajid. It is prepared by steaming rice, which is then mixed with coconut milk andcaramelized sugar.[8] It is finally wrapped innyirik leaves and fastened with a pin made with themidrib ofoil palm leaves,[9] in the same manner as wrappingkelupis.[citation needed] It is regarded as a traditional food which has been passed down from generation to generation.[10][11]
The 'ordinary' variety of localwajid is made withglutinous rice (beras pulut).[12] The most popular variety iswajid Jawa, which is made withberas Jawa, the local name for a type of fine-grained rice processed using a machine that is said to be not available in the country.[12] There are also initiatives by some local makers to innovate the flavour by using additional ingredients such asdurian, pumpkin,yam,cassava, andchempedak.[12]
Wajid, especiallywajid Jawa, is regarded as a specialty of theTemburong District,[11][8] and it is thus also known aswajid Temburong.[12]
Wajik has a cultural significance within theJavanese culture, as it often forms an essential part of the Javaneseselamatan ceremony. During the annualSekaten festival, there is aTumplak wajik ceremony. InPekalongan Regency, there is a regionalwajik specialty calledWajik Klethik.[1]: 11
^Marlinawaty Hussin (10 December 2016)."Makanan tradisi Brunei masih jadi pilihan"(PDF).Pelita Brunei (in Malay). No. 61 #149 (published 12 December 2016). Jabatan Penerangan. p. 20. Retrieved26 January 2022.
