Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Katilapam
Soft steamed rice-flour cakes lightly spiced and faintly sweet, a Bruneian teatime and breakfast bite.
Bruneian · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 25 min
~478 cal · 5g protein · 82g carbs · 15g fat · 3g fiber · 27g sugars · 13g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Katilapam is a traditional Bruneian steamed cake, a gentle, old-fashioned sweet that speaks of the Malay world's love of rice-flour kuih (little cakes). A batter of rice flour with a touch of spice is spooned into small moulds and steamed until it sets soft, springy, and lightly sweet.
Simple and unfussy, it relies on texture and a delicate flavour rather than richness, and it is the kind of humble, comforting cake that belongs to home kitchens and traditional markets rather than fancy bakeries. Every family has its own touch of spice or fragrance.
It is especially associated with Ramadan, when it appears at the bustling evening markets alongside other kuih, and with unhurried morning tables in Bandar Seri Begawan, eaten with coffee or tea. Soft, mildly sweet, and nostalgic, katilapam is old-fashioned Bruneian home cooking.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp a pinch of ground spice (cinnamon/anise)
1 cup
as needed water
a pinch a pinch of salt
Instructions
1
Whisk the rice flour, sugar, spice, salt, coconut milk, and water into a smooth batter.
2
Rest the batter 15 minutes.
3
Pour into small greased moulds or cups.
4
Steam over boiling water until set and springy, about 20 minutes.
5
Cool slightly, turn out, and serve with coffee or tea.
Bandar Seri Begawan tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bandar Seri Begawan. Brunei's capital eats ambuyat, a translucent sago starch twirled on bamboo forks and dipped into sour cacah sauce because it has almost no flavour of its own. Malay cooking surrounds it: coconut rice, grilled fish, and rich beef rendang.
🗺️
Brunei. Bruneian cuisine echoes Malay traditions, built on rice, seafood, and the distinctive sago-starch ambuyat eaten with a sour dip. Rich, spiced, and coconut-laced, it reflects a small, food-loving sultanate.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Brunei
AmbuyatA glassy sago starch eaten with bamboo forks and dipped in a tart, pungent cacah sauce.
Nasi KatokA simple plate of rice, fried chicken, and fiery sambal, Brunei's famously cheap everyday meal.
PenyaramA chewy fried cake of rice flour and palm sugar with lacy, crisp edges, a traditional Bruneian and Bornean sweet.
Browse all Brunei recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Steamer, Whisk.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Brunei meal
Air KatiraDrink
PenyaramDessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Katilapam?
Soft steamed rice-flour cakes lightly spiced and faintly sweet, a Bruneian teatime and breakfast bite.
Where does Katilapam come from?
Katilapam is a Bruneian dish from Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.
Can Katilapam be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Katilapam recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Katilapam safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Katilapam take to make?
About 40 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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