Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Bubur Sumsum
A soft rice-flour and coconut porridge pooled with dark palm-sugar syrup.
Indonesian · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 20 min
~653 cal · 5g protein · 69g carbs · 43g fat · 5g fiber · 44g sugars · 38g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Bubur sumsum is a soft Indonesian rice-flour porridge, smooth and delicate, cooked with and pandan, then pooled with dark, caramel-rich palm sugar syrup ('kinca'). Its name means 'marrow porridge' for its silky, quivering softness.
The porridge itself is subtly savory-sweet from the coconut and pandan, transformed by the deep, molasses-like palm sugar syrup poured over the top. It is a beloved snack and breakfast, also traditionally served at certain ceremonies.
Sold by street vendors and made at home across Indonesia, bubur sumsum is gently sweet, soothing food.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
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
3/4 cup rice flour
3 cups
1 pandan leaf
Hard to find? a few drops of pandan paste or extract - pandan is sometimes called Asian vanilla, and vanilla will stand in at a pinch, but it gives you the sweetness without the nutty, grassy side
a pinch a pinch of salt
3/4 cup palm sugar (for the syrup)
Instructions
1
Whisk the rice flour into the coconut milk with the pandan and salt.
2
Cook gently, stirring constantly, until thick, smooth, and custard-like.
3
Melt the palm sugar with a little water into a dark syrup and strain.
4
Spoon the porridge into bowls.
5
Pour over the palm syrup and serve warm or cool.
Yogyakarta tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Yogyakarta (Java). Gudeg takes hours and looks like nothing else. Young unripe jackfruit is simmered with palm sugar and coconut milk until it collapses, teak leaves turning it deep brown, and it is served with egg, chicken and a fiery krecek of buffalo skin to cut the sweetness. It comes dry, kering, for daytime and eating later, or wet, basah, for the evening.
🗺️
Indonesia. Rendang belongs to the Minangkabau of West Sumatra rather than to Indonesia at large, and Malaysia lays its own claim; it is defined by cooking the coconut milk down until the liquid is gone and the meat starts to fry in what is left. Sambal, meanwhile, is not one recipe but hundreds, changing island by island with what grows and what is fermented locally.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Indonesia
Nasi Goreng KampungVillage-style fried rice, smoky and sweet with kecap manis, crowned with a crisp-edged fried egg.
Gado-GadoJakarta’s "mix-mix": blanched vegetables, tofu, tempeh, and egg under warm peanut sauce.
Beef RendangBeef simmered for hours in coconut milk and spice paste until the liquid vanishes and the meat turns dark, dry, and intense.
Browse all Indonesia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Whisk.
Storing it: Thickens as it sits. Reheat with extra water or milk to loosen, and keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated.
Make it a Indonesia meal
Es CendolDrink
KleponDessert
Similar dishes from around the world
ChamporadoPhilippines
Papas de MilhoAngola
Manna KashaBelarus
Papa de ArrozGuinea-Bissau
MotogoBotswana
Igikoma cy'UburoBurundi
Cuisine
Diet
Vegetarian Recipes from Around the World
Vegan Recipes from Around the World
Gluten-Free Recipes from Around the World
Dairy-Free Recipes from Around the World
Egg-Free Recipes from Around the World
Pork-Free Recipes from Around the World
Vegan Breakfasts from Around the World
Vegetarian Breakfasts from Around the World
Gluten-Free Breakfasts from Around the World
Dairy-Free Breakfasts from Around the World
Egg-Free Breakfasts from Around the World
Frequently asked questions
What is Bubur Sumsum?
A soft rice-flour and coconut porridge pooled with dark palm-sugar syrup.
Where does Bubur Sumsum come from?
Bubur Sumsum is a Indonesian dish from Yogyakarta (Java), Indonesia.
Can Bubur Sumsum be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Bubur Sumsum 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 Bubur Sumsum 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 Bubur Sumsum take to make?
About 30 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 4.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.