I cooked: Nasi lemak with sambal prawns

Nasi lemak is known as Malaysia's national dish, and is one of the nation's favorite breakfast dish. It is literally translated as "fatty rice", because of the coconut milk added to the rice while cooking, which results in a rich dish. I would love to eat this for breakfast, lunch AND dinner, but a girl's gotta watch her waistline ;)

The basic components of a traditional nasi lemak is rice cooked in coconut milk, fried ikan bilis (anchovies), peanuts, hard boiled egg, cucumber slices and spicy sambal. Some common add-ons are deep fried chicken, beef rendang as well as my personal favorite, prawn sambal.

Condiments for nasi lemak

Our sambal is quite mild, since I do not like overpowering spiciness in my food. I love lots of onion in my sambal. If you like it spicier, then add more cili giling.

For the rice, we usually cook it in our rice cooker (just like cooking our regular rice). One coconut to two cups of rice is the right ratio for us.We add in a few knotted pandan (screwpine) leaves to make the rice more fragrant. Remember to mix the rice well after adding the coconut milk, or else it will clump at the base as well as result in uneven cooking. If you can get your hands on some fresh banana leaf, then serve your rice on the banana leaf, this gives it an extra fragrance, which will enhance your meal.

Prawn sambal with lots of onion!

Fluffy and fragrant rice grains

Nasi lemak with sambal prawns
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 20-25 minutes
Cooking time: 45-50 minutes
Serves 3-4

Ingredients
2 cup rice
90g thick coconut milk (from 1 small coconut)
Thin coconut milk (amount dependent on rice used)
2 pandan leaves, knotted

For condiments
30g ikan bilis (anchovies), deep fried until golden brown and crispy
70g peanuts
1 egg per person, boiled and peeled, cut into half
1 Japanese cucumber, thinly sliced (round)

For sambal prawns
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2-3 tbsp cili giling (dried chilli paste), or more depending on how spicy you want it to be
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red chilli
12 king prawns, shelled and deveined, with tail intact
2 tbsp cooking oil (or reserved oil from cooking the ikan bilis)
1/4 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt, or more to taste


1. Wash rice until clean, then drain. Measure, in grams, how much water is needed to cook the rice you are using (different rice grains use different amount of water). To find out how much thin coconut milk you require, deduct the amount of thick coconut milk [90g in this instance] from the total amount of water required (ie if total water required is 200g, you need 110g thin coconut milk).

2. Once you have ascertained how much thin coconut milk you require, for example 110g, then measure out this quantity of water, add to the coconut and squeeze out the milk. This is how you get the thin coconut milk (also known as "second round milk").

3. Pour thin coconut milk over rice in rice cooker, and place the pandan leaf inside. Cook rice until 75% dry and then use a wooden ladle or spatula to loosen the grains.

4. Pour the thick coconut milk in, and mix well to evenly distribute the coconut milk. Continue to cook until the rice is dry, then leave to stand for 10 minutes. Before serving, loosen the grains again.

5. For the ikan bilis, place 2 tbsp of cooking oil in the wok and shallow fry the ikan bilis until golden brown and crispy. Remove from heat and place on a kitchen towel to absorb excess oil. The oil can be reserved for your prawn sambal later.

6. For the peanuts, dry fry in a wok (ie no oil added) over low heat, until the peanut skin takes on a dark brown hue. Just before removing from the wok, drizzle a few drops of oil - this is to give the peanuts a nice sheen. Remove from heat and place in a bowl, and season with some salt.

7. For the prawn sambal,  heat oil in a wok over high heat and add the garlic and onion, and fry for 2-3 minutes until onions have softened. Add chilli paste and fry for a further 2 minutes until fragrant. Add the prawns, salt and brown sugar and stir well. Cook with cover on for 1 minutes, or until prawns are cooked. Remove from heat and place in a bowl.

8. To assemble your nasi lemak, place rice in a small rice bowl and overturn on serving plate. If possible, try and get banana leaf and place your rice on the leaf (more fragrant). Serve with a side of ikan bilis, peanuts, sliced cucumber, hard boiled egg and prawn sambal. Enjoy!

* I am submitting this recipe to "Favorite Rice Recipes" hosted by my friend, Amrita.

*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's FB page on 7 Nov 2012.