Nasi Lemak (Coconut Milk Rice)

Authentic Nyonya-style Nasi Lemak is simply coconut milk rice served with fried anchovies and peanuts, fried tamarind fish or fried tamarind prawn, cucumber, boiled egg and THE SAMBAL BELACHAN. Trust me, nothing is complete without the Sambal Belachan.

There are many version of Nasi Lemak....the coconut milk rice itself varies,....example; the steamed coconut milk rice (Nasi Lemak Kukus) and many different side dishes, some with fried chicken, curry chicken, rendang chicken, curry squid, curry cockles....and the list goes on and on.....depends on what you prefer.

Well,...what I cooked is a mild version. Not so much of coconut milk but I emphasized on the fragrance.

Check out the simple recipe...

Coconut Milk Rice: 
Use one cup of rice, wash and drain a few times till the water is clear.
Add it one onion, one slice ginger, screwpine leaf (Pandan Leaf), a pinch of salt, water and 1/4 of coconut milk (from one grated coconut)
Cook the rice in a steamer till almost dry, sprinkle another 1/4 of coconut milk and mixed the rice well.

Fried Tamarind Prawn:
Use 600g of medium size prawn (to your likings), wash and drain.
Marinate with one handful of (50g) tamarind pulp, a pinch of salt, 1/2 tbsp of sugar for 1-2 hours.
Heat up the wok, add in some oil and in goes the prawn.
Fry till aromatic. Some might want it slightly dry and burnt, some preferred still soft and juicy. You choose ! 

Check out the ingredients for Sambal Belachan:

This is my weekend favorite.....try it !

So Much Yet So Little

Would you believe it, if I tell you all these ingredients....approximately 20+ of them and 4 hours preparing and cooking.... 

....this is all you get !!??? Imagine all the hard work, and gone within seconds into the stomach !!???

....so why cook it ? 

This dish is getting rare these days, eventhough you can find in some of the nyonya restaurants,...it no longer has the authentic taste anymore. I have xplore most of the nyonya restaurants in Klang Valley and not to my liking. Furthermore, for this small bowl you see will cost you about RM 15.00 to RM 18.00....now you know for all the hard work this is the price you pay for. 

Why so expensive ? Well, it's like chicken and egg story ! Because it's time consuming and the ingredients are hard to find,...the price is high,....so when the price is high,....people might not want to eat this....so where does this lead to....extinction !...of it's kind ! The new generation don't even know what is this !

So, before this dish disappear from our menu, I start to learn the recipe, introduce to all my food connoisseurs....and pass the recipe around. 

Try it out and share with your friends the recipe Perut Ikan.

Trust me,...no regrets !   

Thai Shrimp Paste

Try to go green ???!!!! I always love green, green raw veggies with sambal belachan,...but not everyone can accept having just green without any other dish. Well, sambal belachan is tasty and a pungent dip to go with, cincalok or budu would be lovely too,....but I have tried most of it and running out of choice.

So let xplore what other choice we have ! I was in Thailand a few days ago and I came across some cute looking containers look like this...

Looks suspicious and tempting ! Let's see what can we do with this !!!???

Preparation: Dried shrimp (Soaked), Garlic, Tiny Eggplant, Thai Shrimp Paste, Chillies
Smashed the Dried Shrimp, Garlic, Tiny Eggplant, Thai Shrimp Paste and Chillies in a mortar or pestle.

Mixed all the ingredients and add in Fish Sauce, Brown Sugar and Lime Juice. 

Voila ! Done !

This is how it looks like. Taste pungent, sweet, sour, salty and HOT !

Serve with steamed rice and raw veggies. Healthy stuff ! Try this for a change !