Looking for nasi lemak recipe, can you help?

[chantal]

Have been talking about salads on the food forum and there was a discussion and photos about nasi lemak. It looks very very good. Can any of you provide a recipe for me? Many thanks

[trillium]

What sort of nasi lemak do you want? Are you asking how to make the coconut rice or the sambal or the fish or all of it? We make ours with coconut rice, egg omlette strips, cucumber, a hae bee sambal, and fried peanuts mixed with fried ikan belis. Some of the other versions mix the ikan belis into the sambal and have tumeric fried fish or have hard boiled eggs. There are lots of variations. What are you interested in?

regards,

trillium

[chantal]

What sort of nasi lemak do you want?  Are you asking how to make the coconut rice or the sambal or the fish or all of it?  We make ours with coconut rice, egg omlette strips, cucumber, a hae bee sambal, and fried peanuts mixed with fried ikan belis.  Some of the other versions mix the ikan belis into the sambal and have tumeric fried fish or have hard boiled eggs.  There are lots of variations.  What are you interested in?

regards,

trillium

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All of it sounds good, well except the fish. I am allergic to it, including shrimp. I really love all things peanut, coconut, egg, and rice. Is there some sort of dressing like gado gado or is that the sambal? Can you suggest a variation of sambal that is fishless (preferably vegetarian). I have access to galangal, kaffir lime leaves, ect if that helps. Thanks a bunch.

[Shiewie]

What sort of nasi lemak do you want?  Are you asking how to make the coconut rice or the sambal or the fish or all of it?  We make ours with coconut rice, egg omlette strips, cucumber, a hae bee sambal, and fried peanuts mixed with fried ikan belis.  Some of the other versions mix the ikan belis into the sambal and have tumeric fried fish or have hard boiled eggs.   There are lots of variations.  What are you interested in?

regards,

trillium

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All of it sounds good, well except the fish. I am allergic to it, including shrimp. I really love all things peanut, coconut, egg, and rice. Is there some sort of dressing like gado gado or is that the sambal? Can you suggest a variation of sambal that is fishless (preferably vegetarian). I have access to galangal, kaffir lime leaves, ect if that helps. Thanks a bunch.

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Hi Chantal

The basic nasi lemak usually comprises coconut rice, some sambal, anchovies (either cooked with the sambal or separately fried on its own), egg (hard-boiled or fried), some slices of cucumber and fried peanuts ... this is known as Nasi Lemak Biasa (biasa means regular) at nasi lemak stalls. A basic ingredient of the cooked sambal (sambal tumis) is shrimp paste (belacan).

However, since you're allergic to seafood (iodine allergy?), you could pair the coconut rice with some tumeric-fried chicken, chicken curry or beef rendang instead. Here's a recipe for nasi lemak and a link to the thread on beef rendang.

[PCL]

this thread is going to be as firey as the CKT one, probably even more so.... and guess what gang?

I'm gonna be in KL on the 26th August!!! MAKAN TIME BABY YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!!

[Shiewie]

Hey PCL!

How long will you be in KL for? Another e-gulleteer will be visiting KL around that time too so a few of us were thinking of having a get-together ... perhaps Aug 31st since it's a public holiday. Wanna come makan with us? Will start a mari makan thread once things firm up a bit.

Sorry for topic diversion folks.

[chantal]

Thanks everyone. Okay so is there a substitute for Pandan? I don't know if I can find those. There is a large vietnamese population, and Chinese population here in Montreal, but I'm not sure about Thai or Malaysian goods. I have holy basil in the garden, will that work? Yes, as far as the fish allergy it is not fun ( it made things very intersting when I lived in Vietnam a few years ago). All right, so I'll see if I can find pandan at the asian markets.

I need more help with sambal. I think I am finding it confusing because there is a sambar in Indian cooking. I have a jar sambal olek but it is a hot pepper sauce. It sounds like fish is a major component of all sambals, is this correct? And as far as nasi lemak goes, it means fatty rice, so then that is the center of the dish, and the cucumber, egg, fried peanuts, and meat/fish, ect go under the sambal sauce? Sorry for my lameness. I will look into the beef redang more. Sounds great.

I won't even ask about Mari Makan. I think I need to do more research online first. Sure sounds like you guys have fun together though. That's great!

Thanks,

chantal

[trillium]

I think you're being confused because Pan threw nasi lemak into the composed salad thread. In my book, it isn't one. It's not really anything like gado gado. It's a rice dish. You eat bits of coconut rice with the cucumber, or egg, or fried peanuts and ikan belis. Or put a little bit of each all on your spoon at once. The rice can be room temp in SE Asia where it's very hot and humid, but if you're not in a place that's quite warm, and quite humid, it's better if you serve it warm, not cold.

Sambal tends to refer to a chilli condiment. Some are soupy like a sauce, some are thick like a jam. Some are only cooked a little time, some are fried with lots of oil. Some have dried seafood in them, some have assam (tamarind). Just about anything you can imagine can get added to a sambal. Not all have belecan (fermented shrimp paste) in them, but many do. Some are named after a dish they're used in, some refer to a specific kind of sambal (like your sambal olek or sambal belecan).

I've never seen them used as a dressing in a western sense, just as a cooking ingredient or served in a little mound on your plate, or in a little dish on the table. You get to add it to whatever you want, to your taste. SE Asian food, in general, allows for a wide variety of adjustments to your dish once you have it. For most things, you get to season (chilli hotness, saltiness, sourness) to your taste while you're eating.

There isn't really a good substitute for pandan, but I'm fairly certain you'll be able to find it in your Vietnamese grocery store, they use it too. Look for it in the freezer section. It is shaped like a giant blade of grass, if grass grew as long as your arm.

regards,

trillium

[chantal]

I think you're being confused because Pan threw nasi lemak into the composed salad thread.  In my book, it isn't one.  It's not really anything like gado gado.  It's a rice dish.  You eat bits of coconut rice with the cucumber, or egg, or fried peanuts and ikan belis.  Or put a little bit of each all on your spoon at once.  The rice can be room temp in SE Asia where it's very hot and humid, but if you're not in a place that's quite warm, and quite humid, it's better if you serve it warm, not cold. 

Sambal tends to refer to a chilli condiment.  Some are soupy like a sauce, some are thick like a jam.  Some are only cooked a little time, some are fried with lots of oil.  Some have dried seafood in them, some have assam (tamarind). Just about anything you can imagine can get added to a sambal.  Not all have belecan (fermented shrimp paste) in them, but many do.  Some are named after a dish they're used in, some refer to a specific kind of sambal (like your sambal olek or sambal belecan).

I've never seen them used as a dressing in a western sense, just as a cooking ingredient or served in a little mound on your plate, or in a little dish on the table.  You get to add it to whatever you want, to your taste.  SE Asian food, in general, allows for a wide variety of adjustments to your dish once you have it.  For most things, you get to season (chilli hotness, saltiness, sourness) to your taste while you're eating.

There isn't really a good substitute for pandan, but I'm fairly certain you'll be able to find it in your Vietnamese grocery store, they use it too.  Look for it in the freezer section.  It is shaped like a giant blade of grass, if grass grew as long as your arm.

regards,

trillium

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That was extremely helpful, thank you. I'll do more research on sambal and see what I can come up with. You're all really nice to take the time out to explain this to me.

[trillium]

If your sambal olek is of Indonesian or Dutch origin, it would be fine with nasi lemak. But if it's the kind that they sell with about 5 different languages on it (plastic jar, green lid) made in the US (usually California) it wouldn't be my first pick.

I don't mind explaining it to you, nasi lemak is too tasty to keep to yourself. Everyone needs to try jasmine rice oily with rich coconut milk and scented with voluptuous pandan at least once in their lives.

regards,

trillium

[chantal]

If your sambal olek is of Indonesian or Dutch origin, it would be fine with nasi lemak.  But if it's the kind that they sell with about 5 different languages on it (plastic jar, green lid) made in the US (usually California) it wouldn't be my first pick.

I don't mind explaining it to you, nasi lemak is too tasty to keep to yourself.  Everyone needs to try jasmine rice oily with rich coconut milk and scented with voluptuous pandan at least once in their lives.

regards,

trillium

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Nasi Lemak sounded too good not to ask about....

My sambal Olek is Indonesian. I don't by the stuff with the green lid cause IIRC it has presevatives in it.

Speaking about things everyone should try in their lives, have you ever had green rice. The director's wife told me it was young pounded rice and when I bought it on the street it came wrapped in leaves which I assumed ( maybe incorrectly) were banana leaves. I miss that stuff a lot.

I was inspired tonight so I made gado gado tonight with fried eggs and fried peanuts, plus a lemon cucumber from my garden, green beans and carrots. One of my favorite meals in the summer.

[Tepee]

This morning, DH bought me my favorite weekday nasi lemak. I have no doubt that my man is psychic...I didn't even tell him about this thread, and with each day, my craving was getting stronger, and yet, I fought it....until today.

My fav weekday nasi lemak is nasi lemak bungkus (bungkus=wrap/packet), with its basic coconut rice, fried peanuts with anchovies, sambal, cucumber and half a hard-boiled egg - all for RM1(27 US cents). Nothing like unhurriedly enjoying your nasi lemak biasa with a cup of Boh tea after all the children have gone to school.

Come weekends (binging time here I come!) ...I like nasi lemak with all its works!

Trillium has already given a very good picture of nasi lemak, but here's another excellent write-up. Clicky.

[Tepee]

this thread is going to be as firey as the CKT one...

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I beg to differ....I don't see this thread going firey, except *pant, pant* from the nasi I had this morning. The beauty of nasi lemak is in all its simplicity (with the basic condiments) and in all its complexity (with all extra indulgences), there's nothing controversial about it. Enjoy.

Edit: Word should be 'complexity' instead of 'perplexity'. Guess I was a bit perplexed at the original time of posting.

Edited August 4, 2005 by Tepee (log)

[Tepee]

I won't even ask about Mari Makan. 

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Mari makan is an invitation in Malay:

Mari = Come

Makan = Eat

Edited August 3, 2005 by Tepee (log)

[chantal]

I won't even ask about Mari Makan. 

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Mari makan is an invitation in Malay:

Mari = Come

Makan = Eat

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Sounds like a great offer. I WISHHHHHH. No Asia for me this year. Maybe next though.

Thanks for a nice article. I am looking around at recipes I want to make and will be hunting down Pandan leaves tomorrow.

[PCL]

this thread is going to be as firey as the CKT one...

←

I beg to differ....I don't see this thread going firey, except *pant, pant* from the nasi I had this morning. The beauty of nasi lemak is in all its simplicity (with the basic condiments) and in all its perplexity (with all extra indulgences), there's nothing controversial about it. Enjoy.

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After following it for a couple days, I agree Tepee.

This thread is more informative and educational rather than all-out debate and self-aggrandisement.

[Laksa]

This thread is more informative and educational rather than all-out debate and self-aggrandisement.

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Informative discussion instead of fruitless bickering? Someone better do something about that!

Ok, let me launch the first volley... I like the ikan bilis (anchovies) crispy and separate from the sambal. Soggy ikan bilis lovers, do you consider yourselves true nasi lemak aficionados or just pretenders?

How important is it that all the different components not touch each other on the plate? Exceptions are made, of course, for bungkus. Do they still wrap the package in a banana leaf?

Do they serve crispy deep fried salted fish with nasi lemak in the peninsula or is that strictly East Malaysian?

And why did the nasi lemak that a fellow student brought to sell at my primary school taste so much better than the stuff at the school canteen? And why did the pedantic killjoy of a headmaster stop him from selling them?

Edited August 4, 2005 by Laksa (log)

[trillium]

This thread is more informative and educational rather than all-out debate and self-aggrandisement.

←

And why did the nasi lemak that a fellow student brought to sell at my primary school taste so much better than the stuff at the school canteen? And why did the pedantic killjoy of a headmaster stop him from selling them?

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You didn't follow Tepee's link or you would have seen the beautifully wrapped bungkus. I'm not a ikan in the sambal eater so I can't answer the rest.

That reminds me to say that after the partner makes the coconut rice he lines a bowl with banana leaves, puts it all in there and lets it steam for a few hours or overnight in the fridge and them rewarms it by steaming (right, like we can wait that long) or microwave. It gives a nice banana leaf scent to the rice, and that way you can use the hard to work with frozen banana leaves which is all you find here in the non-tropical parts of the US.

As for your last question, that's easy... anything cooked in a home will almost always taste better then something cooked in a canteen. It's a Universal Law. And the headmasters tend to be pedantic killjoys, I believe that's in the job description.

regards,

trillium

[Tepee]

Informative discussion instead of fruitless bickering?  Someone better do something about that!

Let's see what Laksa messing with Nasi Lemak can whip up.

I like the ikan bilis (anchovies) crispy and separate from the sambal. Soggy ikan bilis lovers, do you consider yourselves true nasi lemak aficionados or just pretenders?

I'm not shy to admit I'm greedy. I like ikan bilis in both its separate crispiness and as a soft treasure in sambal. I don't like it in between, though. No, sirree!...no chewy ikan bilis for me.

How important is it that all the different components not touch each other on the plate?

Not really about separate components, but I do like my sambal separate from the rest of the stuff, mainly, because of my low threshold for heat*. I suffer if the chilli oil leaks into the rice. I relish taking spoonfuls of rice together with a heap of sambal, but somehow, the oil part kills me.

Do they serve crispy deep fried salted fish with nasi lemak in the peninsula or is that strictly East Malaysian?

No salted fish in P. Msia as far as my experience goes. Hmm...you mean, it comes with your nasi as a basic deal?

* Isn't it cruel that despite years of 'training', my tongue is not seasoned? I love spicy food but TP eating hot stuff is not a pretty sight.

[hzrt8w]

How important is it that all the different components not touch each other on the plate?  Exceptions are made, of course, for bungkus.  Do they still wrap the package in a banana leaf?

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Is there an eating etiquette for Nasi Lemak? Is one supposed to chew these different components separately? Or can one kind of take some ikan bilis and coconut rice in the same scoop?

[Laksa]

No salted fish in P. Msia as far as my experience goes. Hmm...you mean, it comes with your nasi as a basic deal?

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The salted fish was included in the standard package, not an optional extra, in the nasi lemak bungkus we got from the back of a station wagon that went door to door around Sibu in the 80's. (The station wagon was an upgrade from the push bike that did the same rounds in the mid to late 70s)

What I remember getting in the bungkus was a generous piece of salted fish of unknown species, that most likely came from the Rejang or one of its tributaries, a dollop of sambal that will curl your eyelashes it's so hot, and a coupla slices of cucumber. There were also a peanut or two, ikan bilis, and a postage stamp square of fried egg. The salted fish and sambal were the star attractions for me, together with the rice.

Edited August 5, 2005 by Laksa (log)

[AmyDaniel]

My fav weekday nasi lemak is nasi lemak bungkus (bungkus=wrap/packet), with its basic coconut rice, fried peanuts with anchovies, sambal, cucumber and half a hard-boiled egg - all for RM1(27 US cents). Nothing like unhurriedly enjoying your nasi lemak biasa with a cup of Boh tea after all the children have gone to school.

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I wish I could have that weekday nasi lemak and Boh tea here. Now I really want *real* Malaysian food!

[Tepee]

Is there an eating etiquette for Nasi Lemak?  Is one supposed to chew these different components separately?  Or can one kind of take some ikan bilis and coconut rice in the same scoop?

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Eh? A simple pleasure like Nasi Lemak is not cluttered with Etiquette. Enjoy it however you like. Keywords: Enjoy and Like. My girls are getting pretty good at eating with their fingers.

AmyDaniel: Have you had 'real' Nasi Lemak before? If you had not, be thankful. If not, it is a craving that reaches a hair-pulling nail-biting level if you can't get your fix on a regular basis.

A few months ago, we discovered a stall in our area which sells Rice with Fried Chicken. Sounds ordinary, right? But then the fried chicken they sell is no ordinary fried chicken. You can smell the bewitching aroma from a distance when they are frying it. I've got pictures in the other computer. The marinade is a secret mix of spices and kerisik, and is faintly spicy hot, so the children can take it with no sticking-out-tongue effects. They give you some sweetish sambal to go with it. You know what? We've been having this same fried chicken at least one meal a week (sometimes I shred the chicken for a sandwich) ever since. We are that hooked. The point of this story is I so feel for Msians who are out of the country for some time.....

NOT!

Edited August 6, 2005 by Tepee (log)

[JC]

Hey Tepee,

Whereabouts is this fried chicken stall? Mmm... must try it.

[JC]

Shiewie,

Aug 31st sounds good. I'll be around and would be happy to meet up with fellow Malaysian egulleteers.