2medium onionsabout 300g/10.5 oz pre peeled weight
3medium cloves garlic15-20g total pre peeled weight
60ggula melakasee article above for substitutes
2heaped Tbspikan bilis (dried anchovies)
125mlroom temperature water for blending
4Tbspvegetable oil
½Tbspdark soy sauce
Other Condiments
120gpeanuts (about 1 heaped Tbsp per person)skinless or not is fine
120gdried anchovies(ikan bilis)
4eggswhatever size
16slicescucumber
125mlvegetable oil
Instructions
Nasi Lemak in a Saucepan (video coming Next Week!)
Rinse the rice 2-3 times until the water runs clear-ish. No need to be a stickler with this. At least twice will be good enough.Tip into your chosen saucepan.Add the coconut milk, water and salt. Tie pandan leaves into a knot and add to the mix. Place the saucepan on medium-high heat.
Bring to a simmer, turn the heat down to low, stir the rice, then cover with a tight fitting lid and cook for 15 minutes, stirring once again at the halfway mark to reduce the risk of a crispy bottom.When cooking rice with coconut milk, it is always a good idea to stir a couple of times, to discourage the rice from catching at the base.
At the 15-minute mark, the rice should be almost cooked. Take it off the heat and leave to rest on a cool surface for 10 minutes to finish cooking. Don't take the lid off.Cooking on the heat until the rice is done, say for 20 - 25 minutes will result in a brown bottom, which will be a waste of all that delicious rice.Fluff up the rice and lose the pandan leaves before serving.
Nasi Lemak in a Rice Cooker
Rinse the rice 2-3 times until the water runs clear-ish. No need to be a stickler with this. At least twice will be good enough.Tip into your rice cooker.
Add the coconut milk, water, salt and pandan leaves, and turn your rice cooker on.The amount of liquid you need will depend on your rice cooker. Most rice cookers like my Yum Asia Bamboo Rice Cooker, require the same volume of liquid to rice. So if you're using 5 cups of rice, use 5 cups of liquid. The cup that came with your rice cooker, not a measuring cup.Read the article above.
Fluff up the rice and lose the pandan leaves before serving.
Sambal Nasi Lemak - Prep Work
Chillies. I start with this step, then I put the rice on.Put the kettle on. Cut the dried chillies into 2-3 pieces with a pair of scissors directly into a bowl. Then pour the just boiled water generously over the cut chillies. Leave some for the tamarind below.Cover and leave to soak for 15 minutes.
Tamarind. If using pulp, place in a small bowl and cover with 125ml (½ cup) hot water from the kettle. Leave to soak until needed, no need to cover.If using shop bought paste, move on to the next step.
Onions. While waiting, peel and halve the onions. Thinly slice 1 half and set aside.Roughly chop the rest into smaller pieces for easier blending and add to the blender.Garlic. Peel the garlic and drop them into the blender.
Grate or roughly chop up the gula melaka if it's in large pieces, for easier cooking.
Back to the chillies. When the chillies have had 15 minutes, drain them, giving them a quick rinse in a colander under water, and a good shake to lose as many seeds as possible. About 10 seconds is fine, we're not looking to get rid of all the seeds, just at least half. Set aside.
Blend our Sambal. Blend the onions and garlic with a little fresh water (from the 125ml/half cup) for about 10 seconds.Then tip the drained chillies into the blender, and about 2 heaped Tbsp of the unfried anchovies, add the rest of the water and blend to a smooth paste. If using a blender, you might have to use a spoon to "dig" up the bottom bits if things get stuck.We don't want too much water here, just the half cup. So persevere.I find that a blender requires more water than a food processor (image).
Cooking Sambal Nasi Lemak
Heat the 4 Tbsp of oil in a wok or saucepan on medium heat. A frying pan will work too but that chilli paste is going to splutter like crazy, so best to use a pan with a curved side.Tip the blended sambal chilli paste into the hot oil and fry for 2 minutes, stirring to mix. Be careful of it spluttering.
Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15-20 minutes, read the article above about pecah minyak (as in image).Stir your sambal frequently. In the first 10 minutes, 2-3 times will do. As our sambal dries up, you'll need to stir it more frequently to avoid it burning.Now, the sambal is going to be spitting up in all directions for the first 5-10 minutes. This is because of the ratio of oil to water. Had we been using much more oil, it wouldn't be as bad.You have a choice here: put up with it or cover it for the first 5-10 minutes only. Ideally, we don't cover sambal tumis when cooking, but needs must and all that, I get it.
When our sambal has had enough time (15-20 minutes) and you can see that the oil has separated, even if this is just a few bubbles here and there, add the tamarind juice, gula melaka, salt and sliced onions. Stir well to mix and cook for 5 minutes more, still on low.If you're using tamarind pulp, mash it all up in the water with your fingers. Then pick out the seeds and as much of whatever fibrous bits there are. Then just tip the whole thing into the sambal. Click here to read more about how to use tamarind.Don't want your sambal too sweet? Just add half the gula melaka initially, and adjust at the end.
Finally, stir in the dark soy sauce and cook for 1 more minute. Taste and add more salt if necessary. You should have a slightly spicy and slightly sweet sambal.That's it. Your sambal is all done. Take it off the heat and leave until needed. It will keep in the fridge for 5 days.As mentioned in the article, some folks will add some of the fried anchovies to the sambal right at the end (with the onions) for sambal ikan bilis. But I prefer my ikan bilis crunchy.
Nasi Lemak Condiments
Peanuts. If your peanuts aren't already roasted, heat about 125ml/half cup oil in a small frying pan on medium-low heat and fry them for 2 minutes, then tip out into a bowl lined with kitchen paper (paper towel), saving the oil for the anchovies.
Anchovies. Fry the anchovies for 2-3 minutes until a deep golden brown in the same oil on medium-low heat. Tip out into a bowl lined with kitchen paper. Anchovies go from done to burnt very quickly, so watch out.
Omelette. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and fry 2 omelettes in a small frying pan.Cut the omelette up into quarters, strips or squares. Whatever you like.
To Serve
Dish up a portion of rice onto each plate and surround with a little of all the condiments, as in the images. So sambal, ikan bilis, egg, peanuts and cucumber.
Leave all the extra condiments on the table for everyone to top up.
Notes
*You can size this recipe up or down, just use the scale above.** Increase or decrease the amount for each condiment as you like. For eg, the recipe says 1 heaped Tbsp peanuts person, make that 2 if you like, so 30g/1 oz per person.