Nasi Lemak

Method

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1. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then drain well.

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2. Put it in a rice cooker or heavy pot with the coconut milk, water, pandan, ginger and salt. Cook as normal, or bring to a boil then cover and cook on the lowest heat for 12 minutes and rest 10 minutes off the heat.

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3. Fluff the rice with a fork, taking out the pandan and ginger.

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4. For the sambal, blend the soaked chillies, shallots, garlic and belacan to a paste.

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5. Fry the paste in the oil over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring often, until it darkens considerably and the oil separates.

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6. Add the tamarind water, palm sugar and salt and cook another 15 minutes until thick, dark and jammy.

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7. Stir in the onion rings and cook 5 minutes more, then take off the heat.

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8. Fry the dried anchovies in shallow oil for 2 minutes until crisp, and drain.

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9. Serve a mound of coconut rice with a spoonful of sambal, the anchovies and peanuts, cucumber slices and an egg.

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10. Traditionally it is wrapped in banana leaf and eaten with the hands.

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Chef’s Tips

• Thirty minutes on the sambal. It should be dark and jammy, not red and wet.
• Rest the rice off the heat for ten minutes before fluffing.
• Toast the belacan first — it changes the whole aroma.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• For a non-vegan version, double cream can generally stand in for the coconut milk; going the other way, a plant-based cream sold for cooking is the closer match to dairy than tinned coconut milk on its own.
• A pinch of dried chilli flakes works in place of fresh chilli — start with about a third of the quantity the red chillies in the list implies, since dried chilli is more concentrated, and add more to taste.
• A quarter-teaspoon of ground ginger per tablespoon of fresh is the standard ratio if you are working from the spice rack rather than a fresh root.

Pairing Suggestions

• Fried chicken or rendang
• Teh tarik
• Extra sambal

Storage & Reheating

The sambal keeps 2 weeks refrigerated and freezes 3 months. Rice is best the same day.

Common questions

Nutritional Highlights

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.