Tapai Ketan (Indonesian Fermented Sticky Rice)
Serves 6–8 Time Prep: 30 minutes Ferment: 2–4 days Difficulty 3/5 Ingredients 4 Steps 6
Tapai, also tape (pronounced "tah-pay"), is a traditional fermented food of Indonesia, although present in some form throughout South-East Asia. It can be made from various starchy staple foods including grains and tubers, each giving it a distinctive taste and texture, and often a specific local name. Tapai tastes sweet, tangy, a bit yeasty, and is slightly alcoholic (or not so slightly, if left to ferment longer).
Ingredients
- 2 cups glutinous rice (sticky rice)
- 4 cups water
- 1 cake of ragi tapai (see notes)
- A couple of drops of pandan paste for color (optional)
Steps
- Rinse rice. Cook in the water, unsalted; add pandan paste now if using. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to lowest setting and simmer 15 min.
- Cool rice to about 30°C (86°F). Sit pot in a basin of cold water to speed cooling.
- Crumble the ragi tapai cake over the rice. Mix in well.
- Pack loosely into a large jar. Cover with a cloth.
- Ferment in a warm place, 30–35°C / 86–95°F, 2–4 days. Done when liquid shows at the bottom of the jar and the distinctive tapai smell appears, after about 2 days.
- Refrigerate a couple of days for better taste.
Notes from the original
- Tapai can be made from plain white rice (tape nasi), or cassava (tape ketala, tape telor, peuyeum), or even sweet potato.
- Ragi tapai (or ragi tape) can be a little difficult to track down outside of South-East Asia, but a little persistence should help find it. The same (or very similar) product is used to ferment Chinese rice wines, and runs under the names "wine yeast", "yeast cake" and "rice cake" in Asian grocery stores. They look like crumbly little white balls, about 2-3cm (1 inch) in diameter. Just ask the shopkeeper whether it can be used to make wine. They can also be purchased on-line from some stores; try this Google search.
- The liquid that collects at the bottom is actually a rice wine, called brem. It will be very low in alcohol after only a few days, but if kept and allowed to ferment, it will become more alcoholic.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Tapai Ketan (Indonesian Fermented Sticky Rice)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-19, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.