Steamed glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk, topped with grated coconut cooked down in gula melaka, wrapped in banana leaf. The inti coconut topping is the defining Singapore Nyonya sweet flavour base.
Pulut inti is a traditional Nyonya sweet wrapped in banana leaf, a common Singapore Peranakan snack. Steamed glutinous rice (pulut) cooked in coconut milk is topped with inti, grated coconut cooked down in gula melaka until sticky and dark. The gula-melaka-coconut inti is the defining Singapore Nyonya sweet flavour base, shared across many kueh, and the banana-leaf wrapping and pyramid shape make it a portable festive snack.
Soft, coconut-rich glutinous rice with a sweet, dark, intensely caramelised coconut topping, the two layers distinct, the banana leaf perfuming the whole. Eaten from the leaf, it is sweet, coconutty and the pure taste of gula melaka.
The glutinous rice is steamed with coconut milk and pandan until tender and rich, then portioned. The inti is made by simmering freshly grated coconut with chopped gula melaka and a little water until the sugar caramelises and coats every strand, thick and dark. The two are layered in a banana leaf and folded into a pyramid. The inti must be cooked until truly dark and sticky, or it is just sweet coconut.
Variations
A sweeter version adds more inti. Some add a pinch of salt to the rice.
On the Palate
Where Pulut Inti sits in the Singaporean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
6 steps · 25 min
- 16 min
Soak 300g glutinous rice 4 hours; drain.
- 210 min
Steam the rice with 200ml coconut milk, a knotted pandan leaf and a pinch of salt 30 minutes until tender.
- 312 min
For the inti: simmer 200g freshly grated coconut with 150g chopped gula melaka and 50ml water over low heat 20 minutes until dark, thick and sticky.
Watch outCook the coconut-and-palm-sugar inti until it's genuinely dark and sticky — stop too soon and it's just sweet coconut; the deep caramelisation is the whole point.
- 45 min
Soften banana leaf squares over a flame; cut into 15cm squares.
- 55 min
Place a portion of rice on each square; top generously with the inti.
- 64 min
Fold into a pyramid and serve, or chill and serve at room temperature.
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