Recipe -"Nasi lemak"

Homemade "nasi lemak bungkus"

Today is Sunday and one of our family’s favourite Sunday brunch is “Nasi lemak” (Coconut rice) with the usual condiments (eg: anchovies, cucumbers, egg and sambal). One of the secrets in making a good “Nasi lemak” is creating a good coconut “pandan” flavoured rice.  Today I am going to share with you my recipe in cooking the “nasi” (rice) in the “Nasi lemak”. Let’s get on with it.

“Nasi lemak” (Coconut rice) recipe

“Nasi lemak” is a fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut cream and pandanus (screwpine) genus aka ‘pandan’ leaves. “Nasi lemak” is commonly found in Malaysia where it is considered the national dish.

Once I cooked “nasi lemak” for dinner when my parents came to visit us.

Me: Dad, how do you find my nasi lemak?

Dad: To be honest, the rice is not nice.

Me: (Hmmm… having followed the recipe and ingredients, yet not good enough)

Me: How come, dad? Why not nice?

Dad: You don’t cook “nasi lemak” in the rice cooker. Girl! You have to steam the rice.

I am pleased to share with you the ingredients and procedures here.

Main ingredients

3 cups of rice
3 pandan leaves
200ml coconut cream
½ tsp salt
Water

Wash and rinse the rice. Drain the water. Set the rice aside.

Heat a pan or wok. Adjust to low heat. Stir fry the rice for 2 minutes. Add salt and pandan leaves. Stir fry for another 30 seconds.

Transfer the rice into a line baking tray. Get wok ready for steaming. Spread the rice evenly in the tray. Pour in the coconut cream with water and make sure the coconut cream and water cover slightly above the rice.

Steam it for 30 to 40 minutes at high heat.

Serve it with eggs, fried anchovies, roasted peanuts, “kangkung”, “sambal” and etc…

Just a few days ago, I steamed the “nasi”(rice) in the “ nasi lemak”. My husband had two helpings of the “nasi” (rice) and my daughter asked me to pack the “nasi lemak” for her lunch the next day. I am happy with the result of steam (kukus) “nasi lemak”. I hope you will enjoy eating and cooking it too.