Nasi Lemak is to Malaysians, what the English fry-up is to the British. But whilst the full English breakfast has streaky bacon, eggs, fried or grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, fried bread or toast and sausages, the Malaysian nasi lemak has hot spicy sauce (sambal), hard boiled egg, cucumber slices, small dried anchovies (ikan bilis) and roasted peanuts at its core and to this you may add sambal cuttlefish, fried chicken, cockle, stir fried water convolvulus (kangkong), pickled vegetables (achar) or beef rendang (beef stewed in coconut milk and spices). Both are equally beautiful to look at when spread out on a plate and both are equally sinful and bad for the heart!
nasi lemak has hot spicy sauce (sambal), hard boiled egg, cucumber slices, small dried anchovies (ikan bilis) and roasted peanuts at its core
The name itself ” rice in cream” is derived from the cooking process where regular white rice is literally soaked in coconut cream and then steamed to give a gorgeous, aroma of coconut-perfumed white rice that is then wrapped in banana leaf or served on a plate and eaten with the other side dishes mentioned above. Sometimes a knotted pandan leaf, or ginger or a stalk of lemongrass is thrown it to make the rice all the more fragrant.
To the core nasi lemak, you may add sambal cuttlefish, fried chicken, cockle, stir fried water convolvulus (kangkong), pickled vegetables (achar) or beef rendang (beef stewed in coconut milk and spices)
The thing that the English breakfast and the Nasi lemak have in common is that they are both high in fat and calorific content. The thing that is different though is that whilst the English breakfast is mainly eaten in the morning in England, the nasi lemak can be eaten anytime of the day, and is eaten anytime of the day, here in Malaysia. Nasi lemak can be found in schools, sold at roadside stalls, at the morning market , wrapped in newspaper, wrapped in banana leaf of just plainly served on a plate in both coffee shops and high-class restaurants alike. We Malaysians eat nasi lemak when we are hungry, happy, bored, depressed, celebratory. We eat nasi lemak before we go out to party, after the party.. at the party, we eat nasi lemak with friends or sometimes alone.
Nasi lemak is hot, nasi lemak is cold, nasi lemak is wrapped, nasi lemak is laid out, Nasi Lemak is gourmet, Nasi lemak is peasant. But most importantly Nasi Lemak is Malaysian – Nasi Lemak is my country , my cuisine, my all.
Deep fried chicken that disappears no sooner has it been fried. It is really THAT popular!
Golden, Crispy, Shiny bodies of sinful pleasure
Nasi Lemak every Malaysian’s pride and joy!
Nasi Lemak Daun Pisang Robson Heights.. just follow your nose to one of the best nasi lemak stalls in KL!
Add: Nasi Lemak Daun Pisang Robson Heights,Lorong Syed Putra Kiri,
Off Federal Highway,
Kuala Lumpur Open from 3pm – 2am
A One Malaysia food indeed!!!
are you loving it?
Ah… I can only smell nasi lemak right now.. but dare not eat!
LOL, why? diet..?
Hmmmm… I wonder what Nasi Lemak topped with streaky bacon would taste like?
(Fusion cuisine?)
sure, just invite me over when you cook it!
ya, nasi lemak seems to be one of those can’t-go-wrong dishes. even at crappy hotel breakfasts, it’s one of my favorite choices! gotta love the fragrant rice, which i would happily eat plain by itself!
yea, if the rice is good sure.. otherwise you need all the fried stuff to go with it right;D
This is my regular supper place on my way back home from work ever since DelectableSu told us about this place long ago and Boo blogged about it after that.
thank u su, boo and LL for leading the way! u have shared your nasi lemak gem with us and we love it! let’s all go again soon 😉
english fry ups can also be enjoyed anytime of the day, i for one, would like to eat it for lunch or dinner too!
the nasi lemak looks yum!!
yea, but not after clubbing at zouk or coming back from the pub surely.. true i suppose! they ARE perhaps almost the SAME but different? (one is spicy and one is not ) 😛
No wonder I never had this since it only opens at 3pm. Funnily enough my craving for NL only peaks in the morning. Never quite think of it in the afternoon. Afternoons are reserved for karipap, goreng pisang (heck with tatabahasa.. pisang goreng doesn’t quite cut it.) and kuih bakul.. 😀
We. Must. Go. There. Inafewmonths!! 😆
hi oh lovely KAT of the desert! Yes to each his/her own i say! 😎 I think i prefer my nasi lemak as early as possible in the morn so that I have plenty of time to BURN the calories!
The English Breakfast is commonly eaten in the evening as a dinner too you know 🙂 So despite the name it’s even more common with lemak now.
I tried a few lemak varieties on my travels in Malaysia, liked one in Kuching the most.
hi adventure bob! thx for stopping by (are you carrying your 40L lightweight backpack now? ;))
they do ?? even for supper and after partying at 1am in the morn? oh ok, my bad! LOL, fine .. so the different (one is spicy, one is not) but almost the same in every other way.
btw, did you manage to check out the adventure activities in Sarawak? Mulu caves.. here is a great site for booking adventures in Msia, if you’re ever passing by again. http://www.whoa-adventures.com
“Nasi Lemak is my country , my cuisine, my all.”
well said! shld rally this to be our national dish
yar agree
sangat sinful,
I shall attempt to cook this soon.
are you inviting us ar? LOL
yeah! when u inviting us?
WAH.
sangat stress.
Should able to plan something. Do cook out la.
Everyone masak something.
cannot take this too often because sangat lemak LOL.
agree.. otherwise there will be lemak all over our waists!
ya ler, i dun wan expansion of waistline ><
Looks really wonderful. A more detailed guide as how to get to the place, PLEASE? Thanks a million! ^_^
+Ant+
Turn off federal highway just after kwan ching school. Its on the right corner just aftr u turn in
I just happened to have made a large batch of sambal tumis, certainly going to make nasi lemak after seeing this post! 🙂
i know this post is about nasi lemak.. and yes; it is yummy and it is the shit.. but im randomly craving goreng pisang 🙁 i cant find any in midvalley. Lol 😛 the safe vicinity of my ‘home’. Oh ciki! take me out! 😛 hehehehe
Never thought I’d see the day when ciki eats rice. I guess never say never!
Hokkien mee’s my love and nasi lemak’s my b#$%h. hmmm, does that make sense? hahaha! nice tribute, yo.
Gosh.. the Nasi Lemak with fried chicken and sambal squid looks so sinful.. drool
I want some … NOW!! Mmmmmmmmmh… I can just about taste that fried chicken, mind if I licked the screen!?
It does look really good frm yr pic! True also la, i prefer my NL in them mornings, somewhat not feelin as much guilt 😆
Me? Cook nasi lemak?
Erm. Wait long long lah. 😛
(Not that I dowan to cook for you but more like I’m scared it will turn out horrible and I dowan to torture you liddat!)
Now I am craving a BIG plate of pipin’ hot nasi lemak, to be polished off with some more nasi lemak tambah! LOL