One of Malaysian famous traditional meals, this is Nasi Lemak with all its trimmings.
Nasi lemak is basically fluffy aromatic rice that is cooked with coconut milk, pandan leaves and some other herbs.
It is always accompanied with a sambal (spicy sauce with any protein source of your likings), spiced fried chicken, hard boiled eggs, slices of cucumber and some peanuts.
Although nasi lemak literally means “buttery rice“, it’s understood that it’s a complete meal of rice and all its trimmings.
Oh yes, I’m drooling just thinking of it!
Jump to:
- Adapting To Making Nasi Lemak Outside Of Malaysia
- What Are Nasi Lemak’s Components?
- Ingredients And Substitutions
- How To Serve Nasi Lemak
- Recipe Video
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
ADAPTING TO MAKING NASI LEMAK OUTSIDE OF MALAYSIA
If you’re living in Malaysia then you won’t cry over this. There are unlimited restaurants and stalls that sell nasi lemak. And you also have easy access to all the ingredients needed for you to make this meal at home.
For people like me, who are not living in Malaysia, well then it’s another story isn’t it? Asian ingredients are very limited and also difficult to find. At least where I live.
So this recipe is for all expats that are missing nasi lemak and want to make it themselves, wherever they are. This is also for those who’ve tried nasi lemak and want to give it a go at making it at home.
WHAT ARE NASI LEMAK’S COMPONENTS?
Nasi lemak’s basic components are:
Rice – Fluffy rice that’s cooked with coconut milk and some herbs.
Sambal – Spicy sauce that’s made from dry chillies and is usually cooked together with a type of protein source. Anchovies are the most common, like you can see in the video. For the picture above, I used squids. I like my sambal super spicy.
Spiced fried chicken – Chicken pieces coated with spiced batter and then fried. Sounds great, eh?
Sides – hard boiled eggs, slices of cucumber and peanuts.
INGREDIENTS AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Some of the ingredients are basic but there are a few important key ingredients that are worth talking about.
FOR RICE
Rice – In the video I used basmati rice but jasmine rice also works beautifully. Just wash off the starch, no need to soak it. Refer to your packet’s instructions on the liquid amount if you’re using jasmine rice.
Lemongrass – You can find it mostly in the frozen section in Asian grocery stores. Ask around. If not, skip it.
Pandan leaves – Give the rice a wonderful aroma, totally fine to skip it if it’s difficult to find.
Red onion and shallot – Just my preference when I have them, I’ve used Holland or red onion with no problems.
FOR SAMBAL
Dry chilies – Here in Spain I find out that they don’t always come spicy. So to bring it to my acceptable level of spiciness, I like to combine the dry chillies with dry cayenne peppers. That spicy kick is awesome!
LESS SPICY OPTION: You can use red bell peppers like I did in my sweet and spicy sambal recipe.
Dry anchovies – So far I’ve been using the ones that my family sent me from Malaysia. Once I bought Japanese dry anchovies and although they’re not the same but they still work for the sambal.
SUBSTITUTION: You can also use fresh prawns, squids, clams or even chicken. No need to fry them first, except for chicken (just season with salt and turmeric powder).
Shrimp paste – It lends a touch of seafood to the sambal. This is similar to the one that I use. Skip it if you want.
SUBSTITUTION: Use fish sauce instead.
Tamarind – This is to lend a touch of sourness to the sambal.
SUBSTITUTION: Use lime or lemon juice to taste.
FOR SPICED FRIED CHICKEN
Spices – For the spiced fried chicken I use a combo of spices (fennel, coriander and cumin) but if you don’t have them, just use 1 tablespoon of curry powder instead.
Chicken – Use whichever part you fancy, bone-in thighs, boneless or breasts.
HOW TO SERVE NASI LEMAK
Traditionally nasi lemak and all its sides and trimmings are served wrapped in a piece of banana leaf and folded into a pyramid shape. The heat from the food awakens the aromatic smell of the banana leaf and being wrapped with it, the leaf infuses the food with that heavenly smell.
Now these days, you just place a piece of banana leaf on top on your plate before serving. Simpler but works the same. Almost.
And yes, you serve everything into your plate. That’s the iconic look of nasi lemak.
Hope you find this recipe useful. Let me know if you’ve tried nasi lemak before and what do you think about it!
Source: https://www.elmundoeats.com/
