Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Nasi Lemak 椰槳飯 Coconut Rice With Side Dishes - "Malaysian Monday 14"





































Nasi lemak (literally means fat/creamy rice in Malay) is a popular dish in Malaysia and Singapore. Fragrant rice cooked with coconut milk, pandan leaf and aromatics is served alongside a selection of dishes or condiments. Although it is traditionally a breakfast dish; one can easily find this delicious dish at most hours, be it at the roadside stalls or fancy restaurants these days. To call a dish so loved by all races in Malaysia a national dish is quite fitting I think. t sadden me to read about how there is a small group of people who are constantly trying to upset the racial harmony so cherished by the majority of my fellow Malaysians. I decided to do my part by writing a pantun (Malay poem) to counter all the negativities...please excuse my rather rusty Malay! (there is a rough translation st the end of the post;

Nasi lemak warisan kebangsaan kita
Sarapan yang terkenal sampai ke luar negeri
Mutu, Mei Ling dan Wati berkongsi semeja
Semangat Muhibbah membakar tanpa disedari

Sambal udang, telur and buncis tanpa kerang
Rendang, kari dan ikan bilis boleh ditambahi
Walaupun orangnya jauh diseberang
Tradisi dan adat tidak pernah dilupai


serves 4
for the nasi lemak (coconut rice)
you will need;
500 g of jasmine rice, washed, rinsed and drained
1 pandan leaf, knotted
3 cm piece of ginger, sliced
2 shallots, sliced
1 star anise
5 cloves
200 ml of coconut milk
water
1 tsp of salt

side dishes;
1 cucumber, sliced
4 hard boiled eggs, halved
1 cup of anchovies, fried til crispy

suitable dishes from the blog;



Place all ingredients for coconut rice into the rice cooker. Add enough water and cook as one would with plain rice.



When the rice is done, remove pandan leaf and spices. This is now ready to be served with side dishes of your choice.



Hard boiled eggs and cucumber slices - compulsory



Crispy anchovies (ikan bilis) - compulsory



A sambal dish is also a must, I made a sambal prawns (sambal udang).



I also made a stir fried green beans with garlic and chili. Often blood cockles (kerang) are added too.



Serve the fragrant coconut rice with the condiments and you will have a very memorable one dish meal ready.



Mix well and enjoy!

The following the the rough translation of the pantun (poem);

Nasi lemak is our national heritage
A popular breakfast dish that is well known all over the world
Mutu, Mei Ling and Wati sharing a table
The spirit of muhibbah* is burning without being noticed

Sambal prawns, egg and fried beans without cockles
Rendang, curry and anchovies can also be added
Although I am thousand miles away
Traditions and costums have not been forgotten

* the spirit of goodwill and tolerance



I will be hosting the October event. Please send all your delicious entries to me at sureshchong@yahoo.com. To find out more please click HERE.

39 comments:

  1. My family loves nasi lemak especially my daughter, she told me her every Sun lunch must be nasi lemak lol.

    ReplyDelete
  2. clap4x!!!!!

    Salute lah tummy kat u, walau duk jauh tp semangat n bahasa melayu u sgt baguslah! walau ada mix2 dgn english ;-) i ambik sastera masa high school tp skrg langsung i tak boleh nak buat pantun sekerat pung sbb tak reti! hihihi... ur nasi lemak mmg nmpk sedap, i pun lama tak buat nasi lemak.. nak cek ur recipe, thanks again tummmy! the next time phud pasa thai dai mai kha? :D hv a good day my fren!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow very impressive! Both with the nasi lemak and your pandun! I can barely speak Malay properly let alone write a poem lol

    ReplyDelete
  4. love nasi lemak. the prawns look so good! must attempt to make some myself.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This looks very delicious Suresh. I must try making this over the weekend. But first I will have to make some of the sambal first.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a fabulous looking dish! I can see why this is so popular in Malaysia.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gosh, I can't take my eyes off from that inviting platter! Huge prawns, again my Hubby will love that! (I've stopped eating prawns lately). So, I'll take the sambal alone...hehe :D

    I cook NL almost every weekend. It's our favourite and most easiest to prepare.

    U r so poetic lor. I can't do that...hehehe! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great looking nasi lemak..I have problem eating this as breakfast but will love it for lunch or dinner anytime!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love nasi lemak and your plate looks great with the anchovies, sambal udang and beans. Now I know besides talented in cooking, you can write good poems too :p

    ReplyDelete
  10. I would love some as my dinner tonight. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh very delicious! I want some too!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oiyo, such a salivating dish! Eventhough, I'm staying in M'sia. Still I think this irresistible. Yeap, never get bored! ^_^
    Kristy

    ReplyDelete
  13. I wish this is more easily available here in Melbourne. I might need to make some soon to stop my craving! Great pandun! lol

    ReplyDelete
  14. fullamakkkk tummy..tabik spring toing toing! u`re very nice person.. so proud sama kamu!

    anak itik dalam reban,
    boleh bagi saya sepinggan??!

    pantun low class! hihihihi

    ReplyDelete
  15. Did you reserve a plate of yummy nasi lemak for me? hehehe..nampak sangat sedap.

    ReplyDelete
  16. amazing ye jiang fan ;)

    hello,my ist visit here

    ReplyDelete
  17. hi tummy..kalau nasi lemak yg berlaukkan belbagai macam ni makcik pun suka..udang besar pula tu..mesti enak ni..

    ReplyDelete
  18. wow, looks magnificient...wanna grab d whole plate...absolutely stunning clicks..:)
    Tasty Appetite

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow tummy, so terror your pantun :) Hidden talent and all, what else are you hiding? My BM is so rusty, I think I'm still using slang words circa 1980...does anyone still say canggih? ;P Great nasi lemak too.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Harriet from CarltonOctober 6, 2010 at 9:19 AM

    This is perfect for our Sunday lunch. Love all the different flavour in one plate!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I can just imagine how incredible it wud taste :) Pics are fab.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Great dish and there are so many other dishes suitable to go with it too!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Looks delicious - every single ingredient! The rice and shrimp look especially good. Great combo of ingredients in the rice for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  24. wow Sonia is going to love this one looks fab

    ReplyDelete
  25. This is awesome, especially the sambal udang! Getting hungry now, lunch time!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Give me a plate of that sambal prawns and I can finish it all by myself! Yums!

    ReplyDelete
  27. That is a very impressive one-dish meal. I might try this over the weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Great nasi lemak. This will go beautifully with the Malaysian night I'm planning!

    ReplyDelete
  29. When ever the family goes back to Malaysia for a holiday, the first thing we do is to have Nasi lemak for breakfast, just can't be beaten. Your dish looks delicious,drooling and salivating!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Great work again buddy! We had this when we were in Penang many years back. Time to try making this one weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Just what I need now for breakfast! Love all those prawns there :P I need to cook soon. Miss home now!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hai my dear Tummy...makcik agak terlewat tinggal komen ni..you are so sweet dear..pantun tu hehe.Terima kasih :)

    Pucuk pauh delima batu,
    Anak sembilang ditapak tangan,
    Walaupun jauh beribu batu.
    Malaysia mesti dalam ingatan:)

    ReplyDelete
  33. holy crap my mouth is watering just looking at Nasi Lemak!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Yuum! I can have this everyday! So sinful but so satisfying!

    ReplyDelete
  35. oh lupa..nasi lemak tu tersangat lah Yummy:)

    ReplyDelete
  36. Wowww .. a dish of goodness!! I really don't mind to have second round of dinner!!

    ReplyDelete
  37. I am quite new to seeing cloves and star anise added to the coconut rice. But there is real delicious stuff, I know. :)

    ReplyDelete
  38. So nasi lemak is just the coconut rice...Ive been confused about what it was...I thought it was the eggs and everything else.

    ReplyDelete

Please leave a note. I love to know what you think!

press me

3 hungry tummies

My photo
melbourne, victoria, Australia

linkwithin