nasi lemak

I love nasi lemak. Malaysian, Singaporean, Indonesian love nasi lemak. Nasi lemak is now an international dish, can be found in London, New york, Sydney, Seoul, Tokyo. or Dubai.
Nasi lemak is unknown where the dish is come from or the real originality. Lets forget that and just enjoy making it.

For steamed Nasi Lemak you will need;

Rice 200g
water 100ml
Coconut cream 100ml
salt
screw-pine leaves
Whole black pepper 10nos
Onion  -wedges
Ginger- an inch
pinch of sugar (to make nasi lemak shiny and less sticky)

wash the rice 3 times (this will make your rice can be stored longer without getting stale). Add water in coconut cream and stir well.
add all the ingredients and put inside rice cooker. If you using stove, use medium heat. let the rice cook slowly. This will avoid the hard crust formed underneath.
If the liquid is reduced and you see the rice is still not cooked, take it off the stove, and start to steam the rice using a steamer. This is because, the coconut cream is too thick but you still can save by steaming it.

The main accompaniment for nasi lemak is 'sambal'. There are so many version of sambal. But I'll guide you how to make basic sambal which is can be added with other meat item, or seafood later on.

20 nos Dried chilies (boiled- boiling time will result the hotness of your sambal the longer the lesser)
5 nos big shallot about 15gm each -slice (shallot will make the dish sweet, note: look for onion that irritate your eyes more)
salt
sugar 2tbsp (most sambal will taste sweet but hot- you always can add more)
tamarind juice (to balance the chili taste, not to make the dish sour)
2 cup water
shrimp paste (optional) inch
cooking oil 5tbsp

blend boiled chili with shrimp paste. Heat the pan with  oil, add blended chilies, sliced shallot sugar salt tamarind juice and water. Reduce the heat, this will make the sambal to cook slowly. This will take some times, until the water reduced and sambal will become thick.
If you make prawn sambal, add chopped garlic in your sambal and pre-fried your prawn.

Scoop your rice, add sliced cucumber, fried anchovies, hard boiled eggs, and fried peanuts.Accompanied with your sambal...and enjoy your home made nasi lemak.