Skip to main content

Homemade Nasi Lemak (椰浆饭）

 



Nasi lemak can be regarded as Malaysia’s ‘national treasure’ dish. Every morning, you can easily find Nasi Lemak in those Mamak stalls, Chinese coffee shops, on the roadside or even in a 5 Star hotel.

You can eat it for Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner, Mid Meal or otherwise. Some are ready wrapped with banana leaves and grease proof paper. You can have a basic version, and you can have various condiments to go along with it. 

This dish is normally added with a hot spicy sauce (sambal) and various garnishes, including fresh cucumber slices, small fried anchovies (ikan bilis), roasted peanuts, and hard-boiled or fried eggs. And sometimes it also serves with sambal squid, curry chicken, beef rendang, fried fish, stir-fried vegetables.


When talking about nasi lemak, that hot spicy sauce (sambal) is a must. It is the soul of Nasi Lemak. A plate of nasi lemak without sambal will not have the taste that nasi lemak should have. As well as the rice must taste with coconut flavor. That’s the perfect combination.

I am using three types of dried chilies for making the sambal which are lightly pungent, spicy and smokey. Although I love spicy food, I personally prefer sweeter sambal. This way, your tongue will not be unable to taste the unique aroma of nasi lemak due to the pungent feeling.

Preparing Nasi Lemak is not complicated. Just prepare all the side dishes and put them together when serving. However, it does take some time to prepare the side dishes. Fried peanuts, anchovies, and fried sambal all require absolute patience. If you do not want to be in a hurry, it is recommended that you prepare them one day in advance so that you don’t have to rush around. Anyway, I am going to pair my Nasi Lemak with fried chicken thigh. It’s optional. You can pair with any meat dish as you like.

 

INGREDIENTS

Coconut rice

2 cups jasmine rice

2 cups water

1 tbsp

1 tbsp coconut milk

2 pandan leaves

½ tsp salt

2 slices ginger

 

METHOD

1.Combine the wash rice, water, ginger, pandan leaves and coconut milk in a round pan. Stir to combine. 

2. Put the rice into the steamer (you can cook in a rice cooker) bring it to a boil over medium heat, about 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to low. Let the rice simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until tender and the water is absorbed.

 

Side dishes

1 cup peanuts

1 cup anchovies

3 chicken thighs

Some cucumber slices

Some hot boiled eggs

Some corn starch for coating the chicken 

Some cooking oil

 

Marinade for the chicken thighs

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tsp light soy sauce

1 tsp dark soy sauce

Some white pepper

 

METHOD

1. Marinade the chicken thighs with oyster sauce, light and dark soy sauce, and white pepper for 2 hours or overnight. Coated with corn starch.

2. Deep fried one cup of peanuts with cold oil and LOW heat throughout the process. Until the peanuts turn red and golden brown. Remove and set aside.

3. Heat up the oil in the wok. Place in the chicken thigh, deep fried until both sides are golden brown. Double fry will make the chicken thigh extra crispy. Remove and set aside.

4. With the remaining oil from frying the chicken thighs, deep fry 1 cup of anchovies until golden brown. Remove and keep aside for later serve with nasi lemak.

 

Sweet sambal

15g dried chilies

2 fresh chilies

3 large onions

A small knob of shrimp paste (belacan)

50g Gula Melaka

2 pc tamarind

1 cup cooking oil

½ cup water

Salt to taste

 


METHOD

1. Trim and cut the dried chilies into short length and boil in hot water until soft and drained. 

2. Blend dried chilies, fresh red chilies, onions and belacan (with little water) till fine paste.

3. Heat up the cooking oil in a wok over medium heat, add in the blended chili paste, sauté till aroma. Add gula Melaka, tamarind peel and salt, continue to sauté over low heat for 30 minutes. Stirring constantly. Thicken the paste to a desired consistency. Halfway cook, if the paste becomes too thick, add in water and continue to cook. Taste and adjust with additional salt and Gula Melaka.

6. Serve with coconut rice, cucumber slices, fried anchovies, peanuts, hard-boiled eggs, and fried chicken thigh.

 

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nyonya Sticky Rice Dumplings

This is my version of Nyonya Zongzi. The taste is very different from salty meat Zongzi. When the first time I taste it, it is incredibly tasty, it’s slightly spicy but not too sweet. It has a strong spice flavor due to the fact that of using whole coriander and white peppercorns which were toasted and grinded into powder form. The biggest difference between the regular Zongzi and Nyonya Zongzi is in the filling -- one’s savory while the other's sweet. The regular salty Zongzi normally includes pork belly in a big piece, mushrooms, dried shrimp, chestnuts and salted duck eggs. And include a lit bit of five spice powder for some fragrance. The Nyonya Zongzi includes braised minced pork, dried shrimps, candied winter melon, and the strong spice from the whole grinded coriander seeds and white peppercorns is the key to the greatest flavor. And it comes with a blend of sweet and savory, with aromatic spice notes and a hint of sweetness. The blue and off-white appearance with a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Easy Apple Tart With Almond Cream

This apple tarts made with frangipane or almond cream, and apples. It’s delicate, beautiful, and most importantly, delicious. The combination of apples, almonds, and cinnamon creates a warm and delightful dessert. Excellent while still warm from the oven, at room temperature, or even cold. The tart itself is buttery and crunchy. It is simple to make, and you don’t need a food processor or hand mixer. The key is that the butter is COLD. I cut it into small cubes and keep it in a freezer for 10 minutes which is much simpler to incorporate into the flour mixture. The almond cream or Frangipane is simple to prepare, and you can make it a day ahead with only a few ingredients. Spread the almond cream over the prebaked pie crust which adds a wonderful flavor, but it also acts as a shield to prevent the apple juices from penetrating into the crust. I am using a 24cm round and removable pie try or tart pan for making this apple tart. It is one of the staple pieces of equipment in my kitc...
Post a Comment
Read more

Crispy Fried Noodles Meatballs With Sweet Chili Sauce

I don’t want to blow my own horn, but I’m determined to do everything I can to make you want to try these meatballs. These meatballs are coated with SWEET CHILLI LIME SAUCE. The sweet chili paste is the major component of making the sauce. Apart from using this paste to make the sauce for the meatballs. You can also use it for other dishes like stir-fries with French beans, spread over cucumber or bread, or sometimes use it to pair with fried noodles. The paste itself is sweet with some spiciness. I am using two types of dried chilies to make the paste, one type is mild, and the type is extremely hot dried chilies. Bear in mind that the smaller they are, the hotter they are. My meatballs contain glass noodles inside and outside of them. If you're not familiar with the idea of adding noodles to meatballs, let me convince you as to why it's a great idea. The noodles get crispy outside after frying.   So, you don’t need to mess up with panko or any other breading. Glass nood...
Post a Comment
Read more