Burasa is a rice cake from South Sulawesi. It differs from other rice cakes such as lontong or ketupat because it uses coconut milk instead of just water. That is why burasa is rather savory in itself. There are several great Makassar dishes to enjoy with burasa.
Burasa is a bit more complicated to make than lontong or ketupat. The first part is steaming the rice until half-cooked. The second part is cooking it further in coconut milk while also adding salt and bay leaves into the mix. Here are some of the best dishes to enjoy with Burasa.
Coto Makassar
This is the soto variant from Makassar. Traditionally, coto Makassar is buffalo meat and offal stew with broth made from various spices and ground peanuts. Today, most of coto Makassar use beef for the meat because buffalo meat is rather hard to obtain. You can also have it with side dishes like innards. Burasa has always been the perfect complement for coto, especially for those who love savory dishes.
Konro
To say it simply, konro is rib soup from Makassar. Most of the time, this dish is made using spareribs. However, you might find some restaurants that serve konro with other parts of the cow. The soup is thick with strong taste thanks to the use of a lot of spices. The most prominent are coriander and keluwak that gives the soup its dark color. Burasa is often cut into bite-size for konro.
Pallubasa
This dish shares a lot of similarities with coto Makassar. They are both using offal and meat of cow r buffalo. Even the cooking process is the same. The distinction lies in the seasoning which resulted in a creamy soup. The creamy taste comes from the addition of sautéed grated coconut. Pallubasa can be enjoyed with steamed rice or burasa.
Nasu Lekku
This is a unique curry that uses a lot of galangal. The chicken is cooked like curry, using coconut milk and a lot of spices. However, the most dominant one is still the galangal, usually grated or in small cuts. This dish is very popular during Ramadan or Lebaran. The chicken usually has a strong galangal taste while still really savory from the use of coconut milk. Burasa adds that the flavor of this dish.
There are several Makassar dishes that are somewhat really compatible with burasa. Most dishes to enjoy with burasa are already savory in itself. They are meat-based and rich in spices too.
