Eid Adha with Homemade Lemang and Rendang

Salam Eid Adha!

So how did you celebrate your Eid Adha? Since Eid Adha fell on a Tuesday this year, none of the SPK gang made plans to balik kampung and it became the first time that we had everyone around the night before Eid Adha.

One of the girls proposed that we make some homemade lemang and rendang together. Homemade rendang, I can obviously do. But homemade lemang is in a whole different league for me. Erm, hello, city girl here? Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, my definition of having lemang is buying it from someone and cutting it open.

We kicked off the night with a buka puasa dinner for those fasting that night. It was definitely a good meal, especially with sambal hitam from Pahang. I think I practically hogged the sambal hitam plate that night, it was sooo good! Meanwhile, the kids were running all over the house playing, so that kept them out of our hair for the night.

The girls, albeit missing one.

And then, we all crowded outside the house to start with the lemang and the rendang. The boys were responsible for the lemang while the girls concentrated on the rendang. Earlier that afternoon, the boys had pre-filled the bamboo with the lemang mix (beras pulut mixed with santan kelapa) so all they had to do was cook the lemang near the burning wood over a slow fire. The boys had also sourced for wood to burn the fire much much earlier, so really, other than periodically checking on the lemang, they were just hanging around lepak-ing!

First photo with the lemang. Too many cooks spoil the broth??

Two engineers making sure the structure is stable for all of the lemang.

Excited faces. You can obviously guess that even Hubby has never had the opportunity to make homemade lemang!

How can I say no to a photo opportunity with the lemang??

Posing with the lemang again!

Hubby periodically checking on the lemang.

Look at that proud smile.

Checking on the lemang in style - equipped with an Energizer headlight to check whether the lemang is cooked.

Hubby showing off his headlight.

The ladies on the other hand, were frantically looking for a periuk kawah big enough to cook all the rendang, and discovered that we didn't have enough santan and forgot to cut the daun kunyit. It was a good thing that I had asked my maid to head over to my friend's house that afternoon to help her maid out with cleaning the chicken. So between the two maids, they had pre-prepared the chickens and the ingredients.

Eventually, we got enough santan and cut the daun kunyit and we finally accepted the fact that we would have to cook the rendang in two separate kuali instead of the original plan of one. And we got to work!

Missing two girls. One was looking for an extension wire while the other was getting a second stove (so we could cook both simultaneously).

Of course, when girls get together to cook, girls get together to gossip too! We nearly burned the first rendang cos we were so engrossed in gossiping that we forgot to kacau the rendang.

We nearly burned the rendang!

Finally we got both rendang cooking.

Hot lemang!

It was my first time having freshly cooked hot lemang, and I was in awe! I had always regarded lemang as hard and crusty, but our lemang was soooo good, it was soft and berlemak that it changed my perception of lemang overnight! Even eating the lemang on its own was good! Try eating it with rendang fresh from the kuali... *drool*

So that was what I served on the morning of Eid Adha the next day. What did you have?