Saturday, 22 March 2014

Nasi Lemak

Yippeee.....school holiday starts!!! I am celebrating on behalf of my kids as I do pity them due to loads of homework they have in school. Other to celebrate the beginning of the holiday, we are also welcoming some relatives from my husband side. Normally, I will choose to cook for a few days just to host them even though I am not a good cook  :)

With the experience that I had during the Nasi Lemak feast I had in February, I gain some confident to prepare Nasi Lemak today with some books and online information. I would say, today is my first time preparing this 'unhealthy' dish. Even my husband and son are so shock when they knew about my menu!!!

Anyway...just for this time and try out my recipe that sits on for years. On top of that, I am planning to cook for a vegetarian version is the meat version goes well. It is to get ready my next year Chinese New Year menu which is only 11 months later!!

Since the rice is cooked with coconut milk, the flavor is really rich and most kids will eat the rice by itself even without any other dish. Other than coconut milk, the rice is cooked with pandan leaves (screwpine leaves) to enhance to flavor.

Having this meal around with kids is always challenging as they are not able to take any chili. Thus, most of the side dishes are dried separately and no chili is added. Sambal chili is served separately for adults. On top of that, I have also specially prepared "Fried Chicken with Lemongrass and Turmeric" for my kids. 


Ingredients:

Coconut milk steamed rice
2 cups of rice
3 screwpine leaves (tie them into a knot)
Salt to taste
coconut milk
water

Tamarind juice
Tamarind pulp (size of a tennis ball), add 1/2 cup of water to become assam water, discarded the seeds

Sweet Sambal tumis
5 dried chilies
5 fresh chilies
15 shallots
1 big onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp of belacan (shrimp paste)
1 tbsp sugar, to taste (or gula melaka for stronger taste)
1/2 tsp salt
1 to 2 cup of oil

Other ingredients
3 hard boiled eggs, cut into half
Fried peanuts and tempeh until crispy
Fried anchovies, washed, drained and fried with oil
1 Cucumber, sliced



1. Wash and drain the rice. Add the coconut milk, a pinch of salt and some water. Add the pandan leaves into the rice. Let the rice soak with the coconut milk and water for at least 30 minutes to make the rice more fluffy. The ratio of coconut milk with water is around 1:3. Cook the rice according to the rice cooker manual.



2. Rinse the dried anchovies and drain the water (Please do not soak the anchovies, if not it is difficult to make it crispy). Fry the anchovies until they turn light brown and put aside.

3. Cut tempeh into a size of 3x1 cm (depending on your preference).Fry tempeh until they turn light brown and put aside. Then, fry the anchioves until they turn light.

4. With the remainder oil, fry peanuts as well.



5. Blend the prawn paste with shallots, garlic and deseeded dried and fresh chilies. For easier blending, add in some oil (1/4 cup of oil). Blend until the ingredients turn into fine paste.

                                    

5. Use a clean pan. Pour chili paste and add in another 1/2 cup of oil into the pan. Stir fry for 10-20 minutes over medium low heat. Continue stirring until the chili paste will turn darker, light and oil separated after long stirring. Add in assam water, salt and sugar, continue stirring for another 5-10 minutes. Set aside.




6. Dish up the steamed coconut milk rice. Serve with fried anchovies, fried peanuts, hard boiled-eggs and a few slices of cucumber. In additional, you may also serve with fried chicken.



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