Recipe: Nasi lemak with Malaysian sweet chilli chicken + WORLDFOODS Giveaway

Happy Malaysia Day, folks! To celebrate this special day, it's only apt that the recipe of the day is Malaysian's national dish and everyone's favourite, nasi lemak. :)

Nasi lemak with Malaysian sweet chilli chicken

Nasi lemak is literally translated as "fatty rice", because coconut milk is added to the rice while cooking, resulting in a rich dish. 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 sambal. You can also add other extras such as chicken, beef rendang, sambal sotong/kerang or prawns.

This time, I created a braised chicken dish using the WORLDFOODS Malaysian sweet chilli coconut sauce to go with our nasi lemak. The braising sauce also doubles up as our "sambal" so I added in lots of onions to the dish. We prefer a sambal which is both sweet and spicy, hence we added in about 1 tablespoon of cili giling (chilli paste) to the sauce. The mild spiciness is just nice for the kids, they certainly enjoyed eating this a lot.

I really like the convenience of the WORLDFOODS sauce - it is quick and easy to use and I only had to add a few extra seasonings (chilli paste and salt) to create the taste that I want. The sambal tastes really good, and goes so well with the rich rice.

GIVEAWAY!

This giveaway is open to Malaysian and Singaporean readers only. Please complete the Rafflecopter app you see below; it is also mandatory to post a comment on this post "I want to enter this WORLDFOODS giveaway." Please also include your FB name and email address so tht I can contact you if u win.


Prize: 1 x 3 bottles of WORLDFOODS products

Contest ends on 21 September 2014 23:59 . Good luck! (Those who have entered the previous WORLDFOODS giveaway can enter again).


WORLDFOODS products are food allergens free, trans-fat free and gluten free with no artificial preservatives, coloring or flavouring, as well as being suitable for vegetarians, vegans, coeliacs and Muslims. You can check out WORLDFOODS products in these locations in KL - Village Grocer (Bangsar Village 1, Sunway Giza, Mt Kiara), Jaya Grocers (Intermark, Empire Shopping, Plaza Jelutong), Hock Choon @ Ampang, Jason and Ben's Independent Grocer as well as in all Cold Storage stores in Malaysia.

Nasi lemak with Malaysian sweet chilli chicken
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 25-30 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 bottle WORLDFOODS Malaysian sweet chilli coconut sauce
1-2 tbsp cili giling or chilli paste
1/2 tsp salt
2 chicken maryland, separated into thigh and drumsticks
2 large onions, sliced
1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
1 stalk lemongrass, thinly sliced
1 tbsp coconut milk (optional)

For the rice
2 cups 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 the Malaysian sweet chilli chicken:
1. In a saucepan/pot over medium high heat, heat oil and then add the onions. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes, until the onions are softened slightly, then add 1 tbsp of cili giling and lemongrass and fry for another minute, until fragrant. Add the WORLDFOODS sauce, and cook for a further 1 minute.

2. Add the chicken, stirring to coat with the sauce and simmer over low heat, covered for 20-25 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through. Turn the chicken pieces a few times throughout the cooking time.

3. Taste and add more cili giling as necessary (if you prefer it spicier), and season with salt. Stir in the coconut milk, if using.


Note: If you do not have cili giling, blend 1-2 deseeded red chillis with some water until you get a paste. If using chicken breast chunks, you can reduce cooking time to 15-20 minutes.

Note: 1 tbsp cili giling gives u a mild sauce, for spicier sauce, please adjust accordingly.


For the rice:
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. Add about 1/8 tsp of salt. 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.

For the peanuts and ikan bilis:
1. 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.

2. 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.


Assembling your nasi lemak:

1. To assemble your nasi lemak, ladle rice into a small rice bowl and overturn on to serving plate. If possible, try and get a piece of 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 Malaysian sweet chilli chicken/sambal. Enjoy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's FB page on 16 September 2014.