Nasi Lemak

“Nasi Lemak” is a traditional Malay cuisine where rice is cooked in coconut cream along with some spices and herbs. Served with "sambal" and vegetables of choice, normally cucumber and or "kangkong" and hard boild egg . Commonly packed in banana leaves, prepared as breakfast, it provides farmers and fishermen with a good source of energy when they work under the scorching sun.

However, through time, the so-called fusion version of “nasi lemak” prepared by various immigrants and those western chefs, have created a total confusion to the concoction!

Majority of people today, especially in Kuala Lumpur are enjoying the “confused nasi lemak” all over Klang Valley, making claims that the best “nasi lemak” is here, there or elsewhere. I have tasted majority of them, and what I can say is; majority of them are merely “steamed rice in diluted coconut milk”. Some food outlets do not even use the creamy part of the coconut milk, instead, just normal coconut milk mixed with water. I guess, with the current on-going increase in raw material cost, they are just managing the food cost at the expense of quality…hehehehe

According to some histories, herbs like “daun pandan” give the rice a nice aroma balancing scent coming from the coconut cream. Spices such as shallot, black pepper, ginger and “halba” amongst others, apart from giving the food flavors, they have medicinal properties, where it cuts the fat produced by the coconut cream and balance out the “wind” created by the acidity in the stomach when one consume it. It partly absorbs the “wind” and assists the body to discharge it.

So, enjoy having our Malaysia's ORIGINAL nasi lemak & also the 'FUSION Version' nasi lemak!! =D

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drfaisal/2514135022/