A Malaysian Staple - Nasi Lemak (with Chicken Rendang)

If V gets a chance, he'll have nasi lemak for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 7 days a week...as long as there's ikan bilis goreng (fried dried anchovies) and hard-boiled eggs...


Growing up in Malaysia, I hardly ate nasi lemak. My quota would be once a year! Seriously! Coconut rice and sambal laden with oil; the fear of increased cholesterol levels was a horror story to me and my family...You see, my grandma (maternal) had a big influence in our lives growing up... She was always "reminding" us to drink water, don't eat chicken skin, reduce salt, drink water, reduce oil, drink water, no fried food, reduce sugar, drink water! And today, all those words are etched in our minds and for those who know me, they often see me carrying a gigantic 2L water bottle around. :D

So if there was a time when we made nasi lemak at home, we always ate it with white rice(we do make coconut rice but as far as I can remember, it was once in 5 years...). Oh yes, my mom makes a killer nasi lemak sambal by the way!

In Malaysia, nasi lemak is not as fancy as the ones you get here in Sydney. You do get the fancy ones with chicken rendang, ayam masak merah or fried chicken at cafés and malls but the classic ones are wrapped in banana leaf and paper containing coconut rice, sambal, ikan bilis, 1/8th of a hard-boiled egg, a few slices of cucumbers and some peanuts.

Source: http://michellmansuet.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/how-life-can-relate-to-bungkus-of-nasi.html

Source: http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/news/nightbird-bites-123353639.html

Nasi lemak is actually pretty easy to make. Well, in my case, I always have a packet of ready made sambal and making the sambal is usually the one that is time consuming. I also keep a vegetarian and non-vegetarian sambal just in case. The non-vegetarian ones are the ones that have shrimp paste. 

Here's my version of my nasi lemak - a reduced fat version.. ;P

Serves 6

Coconut rice

Ingredients:

3 cups Jasmine rice

1 can (400ml) reduced fat coconut milk

4 pieces ginger (crushed lightly to release flavour)

4-5 pandan (screwpine) leaves

magnetised water

Himalayan rock salt

Method:

1. Wash rice until the water is clear. 

2. Add washed rice and coconut milk into a rice cooker.

3. Top up with enough water. I use the finger method to measure. Otherwise, ensure the rice and water + coconut milk ratio is 1:2

4. Add ginger, pandan leaves and salt, cover and cook.

5. Once cooked, loosen the rice and remove ginger slices and pandan leaves and serve hot.

Sambal

This is my biggest cheat....Ready made sambal...

1. Heat up contents in a wok for a couple of minutes and dish up. 

The perfect hard- boiled egg

Many years ago, I remember watching a cooking show on the telly teaching how to make perfect hard-boiled eggs ; the ones without a grey ring around the yolk (overcooked).

Place 5 eggs  into a pot filled with water and bring it to a boil. Allow to boil for 5 minutes and let cool. Once the water is cool enough i.e. you can put your hand into the water, peel the eggs. Another tip is to

place the eggs in cold tap water and it makes peeling easier.

Fried peanuts & fried dried anchovies

1. Heat some oil in a wok or pan and toss about 300g of peanuts and fry for about 5 minutes, tossing every minute or so.

2. Drain on a paper towel once ready and sprinkle with himalayan rock salt.

3. Rinse 200g of cleaned, dried anchovies and fry in some oil for 5 minutes or until golden brown. 

4. Drain on a paper towel and serve.

Note: I get my stock of anchovies from Malaysia thanks to V's Brother-in-law and sister; fresh, cleaned, headless dried anchovies from Kuala Selangor, a fishing village in Selangor.

Stir-fried beans

Something that I can't stand is not having vegetables of some sort in a meal. Nasi Lemak...hhmmmpphhh...besides the few slices of cucumber there's practically no fibre! So frozen beans to the rescue!!!!

This dish is too simple..really...

In wok, heat some olive oil and toss in about 300g of frozen cut beans and allow to cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt to taste and dish out..


And finally, the chicken rendang...Click here for the recipe.


Happy eating!!!