Sheemz's Bistro (Nasi lemak Sabtu, all pure and natural~~)

Made in Malaysia

This entry is dedicated to all my family and friends away from home.. Just so that they finish whatever it is they're doing and come back to Malaysia soon because Malaysia got nasi lemak (and Malaysia rocks).

Intro: Its always easier to buy nasik lemak than to make 'em, because 10 nasi lemaks in Bangi will cost around RM25 (and that's if its coming from the market, not some fancy kopitiam)  and going to the market and buying stuff to cook nasi lemak for 10 people will cost around RM60. But nothing beats a home-cooked meal right? End of intro.

Here's my recipe. Remember to include lots of love and lots of smiles as you're cooking. The food you make kinda reflects what you're feeling (so eating out is the best option on that day you got the parking ticket). I really don't know how Gordon Ramsey gets away with edible food with all the kers words he throws around in his kitchen. At the rate he's going, his customers are probably chewing plastic and putting on artificial smiles cause they're on TV.

Ok. The ingredients. And the how.

For the rice. 

Here's the stuff you need for the rice. Rinse the rice three times as usual. Add filtered water and the coconut milk, ratio 1:1. Make a nice bow out of the pandan leaves and chuck them in with the thinly sliced ginger. Put in as many pandan leaves as you want. The more the merrier. Add a pinch of salt to taste. Not the whole bottle.

Here's the stuff you need for the sambal. This is crunchy sambal ikan bilis, so, deep fry the anchovies first till they are crunchy and then use the same oil to fry the cili paste (this is fresh cili gilling, no vinegar in it. But using only fresh cili's is okay too, in fact probably much healthier). Blend the cilis, onions and garlic with some water. 

(You only need very little garlic. 3 cloves is enough for I love you. 5 onions for I love you very much. And 14 big red cilis for I love you very much and insert any cheesy sentence here. )

That blob is gula melaka. Asam jawa
not in picture.

Just fry everything up and then chuck in a spoonful of gula melaka or regular sugar. Not too much. Just to get a nice color going. Once it is nice and bright red, squeeze in some asam jawa and add in half of the already fried anchovies. Finally, add some salt. Careful on the salt because the anchovies are salty already.

There's no belacan in my sambal although the traditional recipe calls for it. Without it the sambal tastes good already and nobody has ever said to me 'there's no belacan in your sambal' with a bored look on their face (usually they're very excited when they say it). Adding in belacan will probably give it an extra kick though (not the sambal, the resdung).

This is what you need for the condiments. Get your son to cut the cucumber (if you don't have one you can borrow mine) just so that it's all different shapes and sizes. And by the way, this is not just any cucumber. These are timun Jepun, politically known as gerkins. 

Gerkins, eggs and peanuts

In a different bowl, mix the peanuts up with few drops of oil and a pinch of salt and chuck them in the microwave for 10 minutes. Finally, wash, boil and peel the eggs. You can get your son to do that as well. He will love it. I personally love my eggs fried. But, from now on we're taking the healthy route.

The whole entire nasi lemak cooking process will take around 30 minutes. Stopping to take pictures adds on additional 10. My dad was so excited to see me take pictures as I cooked, he offered me his camera (technically it was my camera). I politely declined the offer.

Once you're done cooking, pile everything up on the kitchen table in pretty bowls. Cut some daun pisang from your neighbors backyard if you want that authentic nasi lomak feeling. Then, when everybody's sat down and ready to eat, cedok the rice so that its nice and hot~~

Bon apetite!!

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