brem — East Java, Indonesia

Brem, in its East Java form, is a dried sweet made from the liquid pressed out of fermented glutinous rice, reduced until it can be shaped into thin, pale discs that set into a fragile, slightly chewy texture. It carries a sweet taste with a light sour edge left over from the fermentation. This preparation is closely tied to the towns of Madiun and Wonogiri in East Java, where small home producers ferment and dry batches before selling them in local markets and as travel snacks. It differs from the liquid rice wine that shares the same name in Bali, Lombok, and Nusa Tenggara, which is drunk rather than eaten as a wafer. To prepare it, glutinous rice is steamed until tender, spread out to cool, then mixed with a fermentation starter and left covered for two to three days until it turns soft and releases a sweet, liquid juice. This liquid is strained from the solids, then simmered over low heat while being stirred constantly until it reduces into a thick paste. The paste is poured into small molds or spread thin on trays and left to dry for a day or more until it sets into firm wafers. The color and taste of the finished wafer depend on the rice used: white glutinous rice gives a pale, milder result, while black glutinous rice produces a reddish wafer with a deeper sweetness and a stronger sour note. Producers also adjust the length of fermentation, since a longer rest gives a more pronounced tang.