How to Cook Nasi Lemak

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cooking time:1 hour

Ingredients needed to make Nasi Lemak:

For the coconut rice:

• 2 cups white rice
• 1 small can (5.6 oz) coconut milk
• 3 screwpine leaves, tied together in a knot
• Water, as required
• Salt to taste

For the tamarind juice:

• Ping-pong ball sized tamarind pump
• 1 cup water

For sambal ikan bilis:

• 1 cup dried anchovies
• 1 tsp belacan or shrimp paste
• 10 dried red chilies, deseeded
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• ½ red onion, peeled and sliced into rings
• 4 shallots, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 tbsp sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• Vegetable oil, as required

For serving:

• 2 hard boiled eggs, halved
• 1 small cucumber, sliced
• 3 small sardines, cleaned and halved

Cooking instructions for Nasi Lemak:

• To cook the rice, wash the rice under running water until the water runs clear and drain into a large pot.
• Empty the can of coconut milk into it, along with a dash of salt and pour in water until its just covers the rice.
• Drop the knotted pandan leaves into the pot and cook the mixture over moderate heat.
• Drain it out in a colander and keep warm.
• While the rice cooks, wash the dried anchovies or ikan bilis under water and drain them out.
• Toss them into a skillet, greased previously with a lashing of oil and sauté them briefly until they  brown slightly.
• Place the belacan in a mortar and throw in the chillies, garlic and shallots.
• Pound them with a pestle until they are smashed into a smooth paste and set aside.
• Place the tamarind pulp in a cup of water and set aside for 15 minutes to soak.
• Squeeze the pulp into the soaked water to extract maximum amount of juice from it.
• Pass it through a fine mesh sieve to drain and set the strained tamarind juice aside; throw away the solids.
• Drizzle a lashing of oil in a pan and heat it over moderate flame.
• Spoon the spice paste into it and stir fry until the raw smell disappears.
• Throw in the onion rings as well as browned anchovies and stir them all together to mix well.
• Pour in the tamarind juice and sprinkle the sugar as well as a pinch of salt into it.
• Bring the sauce to a simmer and continue to cook at slow flame until it turns thicker; remove from heat and set aside.
• Toss the sardines with a dash of salt until well-seasoned and deep fry in hot oil until they aturn golden brown.
• To serve, pile the coconut rice on serving plates and spoon the sambal ikan bilis over each serving.
• Scatter the fried fish, hard boiled eggs and sliced cucumber around the rice and serve right away.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons