 Arem-arem | |
| Course | Main course |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Indonesia |
| Region or state | Java |
| Serving temperature | Room temperature |
| Main ingredients | compressed rice cooked inbanana leaf with vegetables or minced meat fillings. |
| Variations | Different fillings, also related tolemper |
Arem-arem is anIndonesian-Javanese compressedrice cake in the form of acylinder wrapped inside abanana leaf, filled with diced vegetables,tempeh, oroncom, and eaten as a snack. It is sometimes also filled with minced meat orabon (beef floss). Arem-arem is often described as a smaller sizelontong with fillings, so it is sometimes also calledlontong isi (lit. 'filled lontong').[1]
It is common inJava, and often found inIndonesian marketplaces asjajan pasar ("market munchies"), a type ofkue (snack) offered there. Arem-arem is served at traditional ceremonies, family gatherings, birthdays or office meetings, and is often presented in a snack box.[1] It is quite similar tolemper, but uses regular rice instead ofsticky rice.
The rice is cooked withcoconut milk, and stuffed with diced vegetables (carrot,common bean, andpotato), cooked minced meat (beef or chicken),abon (beef floss), or tofu,oncom andtempeh. There are a lot ofarem-arem variants, which mostly differ according to their fillings, the availability of ingredients, and also creativity of the creator.[2]
Arem-arem usually uses a thin young banana leaf as a wrapper.Lontong, on the other hand, usually uses thicker, mature banana leaves. The texture ofarem-arem snacks is usually softer compared to those of commonlontong or stickylemper, due to thinner banana leaves, the addition of coconut milk, and a prolonged steaming or boiling period.
