It’s one of the world’s most famous rice dishes and widely considered the national dish of the country. Once a humble breakfast dish to fuel workers, nasi lemak has become so popular it is now eaten at anytime of the day or night.
The Story
Many believe that nasi lemak came about from the local Malay communities who lived by the seafront. All the ingredients were easily available to the farmers who lived by the ocean, and the dish is a lovely balance of something from the ocean and something from the hills. The story also goes that the meal was wrapped up in banana leaves and taken to the fields, which is where the dish gets its classic look from.
The recipe
Ingredients
Nasi Lemak (coconut rice)
2 cups basmati rice
Salt
1 can coconut milk
4cm ginger (smashed) or 1 lemon grass stick (alternative to Pandan leaf)
375ml water
Sambal ikan bilis (dried anchovies)
10 dried long red chillies (soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes)
2 fresh long red chillis
2 red shallots, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tsp shrimp paste
¼ cup peanut oil
1 cup dried anchovies
1 small red onion, sliced onto rings
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp tamarind puree
Condiments
2 hard-boiled eggs, halved
1 cucumber, sliced
1 cup fried dried anchovies
1 cup toasted peanuts
Optional
Fried chicken
Instructions
Coconut rice
Wash and rinse rice. Add the coconut milk, water and a pinch of salt. Add the ginger or lemongrass into the pot and cook.
Sambal ikan bilis
Place the soaked chillies into a small food processor along with the fresh chilli, shallot, garlic and shrimp paste. Process until a coarse paste forms.
Heat oil in a pan over high heat. Add the anchovies and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towel. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Add the chilli mixture to the pan. Reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring often for 5 minutes. Add the sugar and tamarind. Simmer for 5 minutes or until reduced. Stir in the anchovies and onion. Transfer to a bowl.
To Serve
Plate up the coconut rice and scoop some sambal ikan billis on top of the rice. Serve with cucumber slices, fried ikan billis, toasted peanuts and hard boiled eggs.
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