Nasi Lemak is one of the most popular breakfast dish in Malaysia but it can be eaten anytime of the day. The basic of Nasi Lemak is the coconut rice (which is where the name comes from, 椰漿飯), roasted peanuts (toh tau, 花生), anchovies (ikan bilis, 干小鳳尾魚), cucumber (黃瓜), hard-boiled egg (熟蛋)and most important ingredient - sambal (chilli paste, 辣醬). It is a spicy dish as Nasi Lemak is not Nasi Lemak without the sambal. In fact, the taste of Nasi Lemak is often judge based on the sambal so it is very important to know how to make a good sambal if one wants to make a tasty Nasi Lemak dish. With those basic ingredients, the cook can mix and match them up (with the exception of the rice) anyway they want. I like it best when the sambal is not fried with the anchovies because it will leave the anchovies crispy. Basic Nasi Lemak can be found anywhere and our family favorite is the one at the front of Sri Weld Food Court at Beach Street. Nasi Lemak can also be considered the M'sian fast food because they are typically easily packed and ready to be served within minutes. Such Nasi Lemak are usually pretty cheap, ranging from 70 cents (as I last remember) up to RM 2.00.
There are also more complicated ones that are served with various types of curry dishes. When we were staying at Bandar Sunway, we used to go to the one at a kopitiam (coffee shop) at Mentari Business Park. There, we can get the Nasi Lemak served with mummy's and my favorite ikan pari (some kind of ray fish) or sotong (cuttlefish). These dishes are more expensive and larger in portion. They can cost up to RM 6, especially if one gets a lot of meat or seafood dishes. Of course, there are also more gourmet Nasi Lemak that can be ridiculously priced, mostly for tourists or those who likes their Nasi Lemak to be served on pretty plates and nicely presented. I still like the ones that are served on banana leaves!
So what did we have with our Nasi Lemak? I made vege curry (knowing that guys tend to contribute more meat dishes and Ping cannot go without her daily vege servings!). Vege curry is another easy curry to make. As long as you pick your favorite types of vege, it will not go wrong! I have tofu, green cabbage (am still wondering if this is the same as ko leh chai but I never get the chance to taste them together so have yet to figure it out), green beans, and brinjal. I added a little bit of potato to make the curry thick (instead of using corn flour). The curry base can be thicken by using lentils too.
As for the rice, Ming and I cooked our own type of Nasi Lemak. Mine was just steamed with coconut milk and pandan leaves. Ming added turmeric (kunyit, 黃薑) and lemon grass (serai, 香茅) in addition to coconut milk.
Ming also made curry chicken (a pretty unique combination too because he added lady's fingers, which is typically used in fish/seafood curry) and sambal ikan bilis.
He also bought some banana leaves so that we can eat them on the banana leaves! Yummy!
Brian bought us Green Tea ice-cream for dessert. I hang around at their place to watch "He's Just Not That Into You" which is hilarious!! My conclusion from the movie is - don't try to read signs (which is sooo high school anyway!). Let the guy do all the work. If he is not clear enough, forget it! This is a good reason why I still disagree with girls who tries to 主動告白."If a guy wants to be with a girl, he will make it happen, no matter what" - Alex from He's Just Not That Into You.
Also, Ben Affleck is hot! :P
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