A street vendor selling 'bubur sumsum' serving a customer at Jalan Geger Kalong Girang in the north of Bandung.
Bubur sumsum literally means bone marrow porridge. However, this local sweet delicacy has nothing to do at all with bone marrow. It is a porridge, yes. But it is entirely made of rice flour and other ingredients derived from plants, like coconut milk, palm sugar, etc. It has no animal ingredients whatsoever. The name was probably given because of its look: white and smooth like marrow.
Bubur sumsum is usually eaten for breakfast or afternoon snack. Because of its savory and sweet taste, however, this light meal is often served as a dessert to fit in the Western style of dining and translated as rice pudding.
If you want to know how it tastes, you may try to make it yourself. Here is the recipe written in English that I found on the web.
