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Malaysia, Asia

Nasi Lemak

Malaysia's national breakfast: rice cooked in coconut milk with pandan leaves, served with sweet-spicy sambal, egg, fried anchovies, peanuts and cucumber.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time50 min
Soaking the dried chilies+ 20 min
DifficultyMedium
About servingsThe blender needs a minimum amount of sambal to work, so even 1 serving makes 2 servings of sambal. Leftover sambal keeps for 1 week in an airtight container in the fridge.

Method

  1. Cut the dried chilies with scissors, shake out the seeds and soak in hot water for 20 minutes. Wash the rice 3 times until the water runs clear and drain.

  2. Put the rice, coconut milk, water, salt and pandan leaves in a 16 cm pot and bring to a boil over medium heat for . Stir once, cover, turn down to low heat and cook for . Turn off the heat and let it stand for 10 minutes.

    Add in this stepJasmine rice 150 gCoconut milk 150 mlWater 100 mlSalt ½ tspPandan leaves (knotted, optional) 1

    medium heat→low heat

  3. Grind the soaked chilies, shallots, garlic and belacan finely with 2 tbsp of water, add to the oil and fry over medium-low heat for , stirring. When the oil separates and floats on top and the paste turns deep red-brown, season with the tamarind water, sugar and salt.

    Add in this stepDried chilies 10 gShallots (or 2 per ½ small onion) 3Garlic (cloves) 2Belacan (shrimp paste) ½ tspCooking oil (for the sambal) 3 tbspTamarind water 1½ tbspSugar 2 tspSalt (for the sambal) to taste

    medium-low heat

  4. Heat the frying oil in a small pan over medium heat and fry the peanuts for , then lift out. Fry the anchovies in the same oil for until light golden, then lift out. They darken further in their own heat, so take them out a little early.

    Add in this stepOil for frying 100 mlRaw peanuts (skin on) 30 gDried anchovies (ikan bilis, medium, heads and guts removed) 30 g

    medium heat

  5. Put the eggs in boiling water and cook over medium heat for . Cool in cold water, peel and cut in half (fried eggs also work).

    Add in this stepEggs 2

    medium heat

  6. Press the rice into a small bowl and turn it out onto the plate in a dome. Arrange the sambal, egg, anchovies, peanuts and sliced cucumber around it. It is also tasty with a few anchovies mixed into the sambal.

    Add in this stepCucumber ½

Cook's tip

If you use a rice cooker, add the rice, coconut milk, water, salt and pandan leaves and cook on the normal setting. Coconut milk catches on the bottom easily, so keep the heat low when cooking the rice in a pot.

Cooking it at camp

Make the sambal, fried anchovies, peanuts and boiled eggs at home and carry them in airtight containers. At the campsite you only need to cook the coconut rice in a camping pot on the burner. Wind makes the bottom burn easily, so set up a windscreen and cook on the lowest flame.