Salted Fish Nasi Kerabu

With just a little bit of extra work, white rice may very quickly become much more fascinating.

How so? White rice is essentially just steamed white rice. But the grain is much more than that. For instance, Chinese sausage fried rice, garlic turmeric rice, chicken rice made with chicken fat, garlic and chicken broth, and the list goes on.   Spicing up white rice and transforming it into a more sophisticated and distinctive component of any meal can be done fast by adding various seasonings, experimenting with cooking liquids, and attempting other means of flavouring.

Because of this, rice has become a perspective for me to understand Malaysian food and there are many different flavours of rice I discovered in Malaysia. 

This nasi kerabu, or salted fish butterfly pea flower rice, is one of my favourites. “Nasi” refers to rice whereas “kerabu” refers to sweet and savoury raw vegetable salad. It originated from Kelantan in the 15th century. Due to the migration of Chinese traders, it is one of the traditional dishes of Kelantanese Peranakans, a mixture of Chinese and Malay culture. However, it is now available throughout all of Malaysia.

A light blue rice dish accompanied with a variety of herbs and side dishes, the nasi kerabu is vibrant in colours and captivating in flavours.

Its rice is topped with a variety of fresh veggies and has a distinctive blue tint from the use of butterfly pea flower extract. It is a healthy, attractive, and delicious dish. When it is cooked, serve your nasi kerabu with all your favourite side dishes! Shredded vegetables like beans, bean sprouts, or cucumbers can be added to the dish. In addition to veggies, it can be eaten with fish crackers, fried fish, fried chicken, or salted eggs.  I'm serving it with shredded cucumbers, shredded omelets, fried salted fish, and fried peanuts.  I occasionally serve it with heavy dish likes curry chicken, fried fish or even fried tempeh, anchovies with sweet chili lime sauce. It is all up to your preference.

 

INGREDIENTS

A) 1 ½ cup basmati rice

B) 2 tbsp cooking oil

     2 pcs pandan leaves

C) 2 tsp chicken stock powder

     1 ½ cup Butterfly pea flower water

D) 1 stalk torch ginger bud, sliced

E) 50g fried salted fish

     20g fried peanuts

     3 head fried shallots

     Omelets, shredded

     Some sliced chilies

     Some calamansi juice

 

 

METHOD

1. Heat ingredients B in a wok, stir fry rice until fragrant and pour into steamer or rice cooker. 

2. Put the ingredient C onto rice, cook the rice.

3. Remove rice and leave to cool. Mix in ingredients D and E. Squeeze some calamansi juice on top of the rice and serve.