Nasi Lemak (Rice cooked with Coconut Milk)

Ikmal told me tonight that one of his friends prepared nasi lemak on Sunday and sold them for about RM5 equivalent. The nasi lemak was accompanied by a chicken dish.Wow!I thought.This budding doctor is also a budding entrepreneur.The poor boys who don't fancy learning to cook nasi lemak themselves will not hesitate to buy from this lady student.

Nasi lemak is a national breakfast favorite eaten with sambal, fried dried anchovies,a bit of sliced cucumbers, boiled egg and fried peanuts.The sambal is added with either anchovies, prawns or dried squids.Some people add chicken or beef rendang with their rice. Others may eat with fried fish, either fresh or salted.Zaty loves them with dried squid sambal.Ikmal loves a lot of cucumbers with them.(I will explain rendang in the next post as rendang is also normally eaten during feasts and Eid festivals.)

Here is how I make the nasi lemak.Some people put fenugreek, ginger, lemon grass or onion in their nasi lemak but I don't.

Ingredients

2 cups long grain rice
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups coconut milk (from 1/2 a grated coconut)
2 pandanus leaves, knotted

Wash rice until clean then drain. Put rice, and salt in a rice cooker. Pour coconut milk over the rice. (The level of the coconut milk should be 2cm above the level of the rice.) Cook rice until dry then use a wooden ladle to loosen the grains.

Sprinkle the rest of the coconut milk over the rice. Stir to distribute the milk evenly. Stand for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the rice to absorb the coconut milk. Keep rice warm before serving with other condiments.