Lemper

Lemper is an Indonesian savoury snack made of glutinous rice cooked with coconut milk and filled with seasoned shredded chicken, though fish or meat floss may also be used. Wrapped in banana leaf, it is mostly eaten as a handheld snack.

History

Lemper belongs to a family of glutinous rice parcels wrapped in leaves found across Southeast Asia. The sources do not establish with certainty where or when it first appeared within Indonesia.

Its elongated shape recalls lontong, and it closely resembles arem-arem, as well as Chinese bakcang, a relative of zongzi, and to some extent Japanese onigiri. These similarities reflect a shared idea: cooked rice, filled and wrapped so it can be carried easily.

Over time variations have emerged, such as semar mendem, which replaces the banana leaf with a thin, edible omelette, or lemper bakar, grilled over charcoal to caramelise the rice surface.

Culture

Lemper is usually eaten as a snack or occasionally served as an appetiser. Its banana leaf wrapping gives it a distinctive toasted aroma when steamed or grilled. The most common fillings are chicken seasoned with coriander, cumin, garlic and kaffir lime leaves, and abon, a meat floss.

It is a simple, portable food, found in everyday Indonesian cooking and in the stalls and markets where wrapped snacks are sold.