Porridge is one comfort food for me. In Indonesia, porridge is not always eaten when we are sick. We ate for daily meal, even for snack. Because not all porridge is savory, but sweet. Some porridges are suitable for dessert or only appear at traditional ceremony.

One of my favorite porridges is bubur (porridge) madura. It is called bubur madura because mostly the seller are women from Madura. I live in Surabaya, near Madura. Therefore, many foods and culture influenced from Madura Island.

Bubur madura consists of many porridges, which are:

1. Bubur sumsum is white, savory, thick, soft, made from rice flour and coconut milk.

2. Bubur ketan hitam is black, made from black sticky rice cooked until sticky.

3. Bubur mutiara is made from sago pearls which are springy pink or white.

4. Bubur grendul/candil is rounds of sticky rice or sweet potato flour with brown sugar flavor.

5. Bubur sagu is blackish purple made from sago flour cooked until thickened.

All types of porridge are taken little by little served in a plate or banana leaves. Then, doused with thick coconut milk sauce and a thick solution of brown sugar. Colorful, creamy, thick, sweet and sour. It is really satisfied your mouth and eyes.

In Surabaya you will find many sellers of bubur madura, mostly at traditional market. However, Surabaya citizen would agree that all good bubur madura are at Pasar Atom, Pabean Cantikan, Surabaya. It has “bubur madura corner” where all sellers gather and all are delicious.

However, it is far from my house. I like to shop my daily food at Pasar Pucang, Gubeng Surabaya. Thanks God, I found a delicious bubur madura there. It is called “Bubur Madura & Dawet Ayu Bu Khotimah”. It is located behind fruit sellers. It opens at 7 am until 1 pm. It is just a little table, but big flavor.

My most favorite is bubur sumsum. I like how soft and savory taste of it. In my POV, it is rare to find delicious bubur sumsum outside Surabaya. Definitely always comeback for the taste.