Malaysian nasi lemak is considered to be the national dish. It is often enjoyed for breakfast but we had it as part of our International Cuisine Malaysian meal. The sambal that we enjoyed with it is called Ikan bilis (dried anchovies). It was super spicy and once again hit all the notes that we love about Southeast Asian cuisine. This dish is almost always served in or on a banana leaf with some other ingredients like peanuts, cucumber slices, hard boiled egg and fried sardines or smelt. I also included some fried anchovies alongside as well. I am now officially addicted to small fried fish! A lovely meal for any occasion.
Malaysian Nasi Lemak (Coconut Rice with Dried Anchovy Sambal)
Servings 4
Ingredients
- For the steamed coconut milk rice:
- 2 cups of rice
- 3 pandan leaves tied into a knot
- salt to taste
- 1 small can of coconut milk 5.6 oz
- some water
- For the Tamarind Juice:
- 1 cup of water
- tamarind pulp about 3 Tablespoons
- For the Sambal Ikan Bilis:
- 1/2 red onion
- 1 cup dried anchovies Ikan bilis
- 1 clove garlic
- 4 shallots
- 10 dried chili or adjust to your heat tolerance
- 1 teaspoon belecan prawn paste
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- Sides:
- 2 hard boiled eggs sliced
- 8 small fish smelt or sardines
- 1 cucumber peeled and sliced
- roasted peanuts
- some more fried anchovies
- banana leaf for serving
Instructions
- To make the rice, rinse and drain it. Add the coconut milk, a pinch of salt, and some water.
- Add in the pandan leaves tied in a knot into the rice and cook until tender.
- For the sambal:
- Rinse the dried anchovies and drain the water. Pat dry and fry them until then turn golden brown and set aside.
- With a mortar and pestle pound the prawn paste together with the shallots, garlic and seeded dried chilies.
- Slice the red onion into rings
- Soak the tamarind pulp in water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the pulp constantly to extract the flavor into the water. Drain the pulp and save the tamarind juice
- Heat some oil in a skillet and fry the paste from the mortar until fragrant
- Add in the red onion rings
- Add in the fried anchovies and stir well.
- Add in the tamarind juice, salt and sugar
- Simmer on low heat until the sambal thickens. Set aside
- Clean the small fish, cut them in half and season with salt. Deep fry
- On a banana leaf, serve the steamed coconut rice and pour some of the sambal over the rice.
- Serve with fried fish, cucumber slices, hard-boiled eggs, peanuts and more fried anchovies.
- Enjoy Malaysia's national dish!
