Dish · malaysian

Nasi Lemak

Rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf, served with fried anchovies, peanuts, cucumber, a hard-boiled egg, and a spoon of chili sambal, eaten on banana leaf or a plate.

Where it comes from

Considered Malaysia's national dish, it began as a farmer's breakfast, coconut rice was filling and cheap, and the sides around it grew more elaborate as it moved from home kitchens to street stalls.

What cooks argue about

Cooks argue over the rice's richness: coconut milk alone for a cleaner flavor, or coconut milk plus pandan and sometimes a knob of ginger, which some consider necessary and others call overpowering.

Versions

Nobody has published a nasi lemak here yet. When somebody cooks one from a video and publishes it, their version appears in this list, with a link back to the original.

What goes in it

Each one opens everything else made with it.

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Malaysian kitchen