The taste of bamboo hill rice 

Kampung Jader, Orang Asli Temiar Village, Gua Musang, Kelantan, Malaysia | As part of the story gathering trip for Plates, Vol.2: Durian

Hill rice, or padi bukit, is wrapped in fresh green leaves, harvested from the backyard jungle of the indigenous Temiar ethnic group.

Grown without any fertiliser or pesticide, the Temiar people of Kampung Jader grow hill rice using the slash and burn method. Harvested once a year, a hilly area is cleared of bramble and burned, inadvertently creating organic nutrients for the crop. The following season, the same thing will be done to a different area in order to allow the soil in the former plot regenerate. 

Cooked in the hollow of bamboo poles over an open fire. “Hill rice is fragrant,” says Rina, one of the ladies at the village, and one of the few Temiar women were not shy to initiate conversation. 

“Ni bukan beras Bunga Raya” ‘This is not the Bunga Raya rice,’” the men remark, referring to the ‘Bunga Raya’ (hibiscus) commercial rice in the supermarkets, often teased as ‘beras keras’ (hard rice). 

The leaves add a very mild herb-y, almost grass-like taste and aroma to the rice, which would otherwise go unnoticed if wolfed down. No gravy, sauce or seasoning of any kind is needed. As-is. Organic and zero waste without even trying.