Nasi Lemak

One of my favourite Malaysian foods is Nasi Lemak. What is Nasi Lemak? It's essentially a serving of Coconut Rice accompanied by Ikan Bilis Sambal, fried Peanuts, fried Ikan Bilis, slices of Cucumber and a cooked Egg. I say 'essentially' because it can on one hand be less than that or a whole lot more.

My Perfect Nasi Lemak

Malaysians eat Nasi Lemak for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. Next to Roti Canai, it's usually even the food of choice in the wee hours of the morning to end a long night of clubbing. Not a food defined by a time of day. Because we love our Nasi Lemak, you can find it everywhere in all shapes, sizes and tastes. 

For instance, you can have a Prawn Sambal instead of the standard Ikan Bilis Sambal, or even a Dried Squid Sambal. Would you like a boiled Egg to go with that or a fried Egg? A piece of fried Chicken, Chicken Rendang or Beef Rendang? Extra fried Peanuts and Ikan Bilis on the side or none at all? Boiled Rice or Steamed Rice - you didn't know there was a difference did you?

I hope you're getting the picture. In Nasi Lemak-land anything goes. You eat it how you like it, usually bought from your favourite stall... and yes we all have our favourite stalls. Each and every Malaysian you know will be able to tell you which Nasi Lemak is their favourite if you would only ask.  

Even the price-tag differs from stall to stall and shop to shop. The more varied you like your Nasi Lemak, the more expensive it gets. You can pick-up a small packet for RM1 at stalls or coffee shops in the morning for your breakfast, or you can order it a la carte at a local bistro for RM12.90. Then there's the RM20 whopper of a Nasi Lemak from Dome!

I love the Nasi Lemak from the lady who runs the breakfast stall across the road from the office, (most mornings I pretend she's not there and successfully brainwash myself into believing that the Weet-bix waiting for me in the office fridge is better than anything she's selling), but there are times when I succumb to greed.

Still, as much as I love her Nasi Lemak, I love mine too. One cannot have just ONE favourite you know. Where's the fun in that? 

The key to any good Nasi Lemak is the Sambal. A great Ikan Bilis Sambal is better than a poorly made Prawn Sambal. It can make or break the dish. The Sambal is crucial. 

My Ikan Bilis Sambal recipe comes from the old Domestic Science recipe book Resipi Harian. It's a pretty straightforward Sambal that I've tweaked ever-so-slightly to suit me. (Have I ever left a recipe alone? No.) My homemade perfect is just enough sweet-sour-spicy with a balance of Ikan Bilis and Red Onions.

It's not something I make often. In fact, almost hardly ever since a good Nasi Lemak is always just a stone's throw away. So most of the time I think 'Why bother?' Though sometimes, on a lazy Saturday or Sunday morning it's the perfect thing to make... and eat for lunch... comforted by the knowledge that your bed is close by for the snooze that you know will follow.

NASI LEMAK
For 4 servings

Ikan Bilis Sambal

1 medium Red Onion

1 teaspoon Tamarind Paste

Salt and Sugar to taste

Sambal Paste (to blend)

1 medium Red Onion

A knob of Ginger

2 stalks of Lemongrass

2 fresh Red Chillies

6 dried Red Chillies
1 Candlenut (optional)

1cm Belacan (optional) 

Coconut Rice

2 cups of Jasmine Rice

1/4 cup of thick Coconut Milk

2 stalks of Lemongrass

A knob of Ginger

Water

Condiments

1 Cucumber, sliced

4 Boiled Eggs, halved

2 handfuls of Peanuts, fried

2 handfuls of Ikan Bilis, fried (divided)

Boiling the Eggs

Bring a saucepan of water to boil. When just coming to boil, put in the Eggs. Boil for about 10 - 15 minutes depending on how firm you like your Eggs. When done, remove saucepan from heat, drain the hot water off and fill the saucepan with cold water. Let the Eggs sit in the cold water for about 20 minutes. Then, peel the shells. Halve the Eggs, place in a dish and set aside.

Frying the Peanuts and Ikan Bilis

Heat some oil in a wok. When hot, fry the Peanuts. Once done, remove the Peanuts with a slotted spoon and place on absorbent paper to drain off the excess oil. Add a little bit more oil in the wok and do the same with the Ikan Bilis. Once both Peanuts and Ikan Bilis have been drained off oil, place half the Ikan Bilis and all of the Peanuts in a dish together. Set aside.  

Reserve the other half of fried Ikan Bilis for the Sambal.

Slicing the Cucumber

Top and tail the Cucumber. Rub the ends you have cut-off onto the cut part until you see some white foam coming off it. Do the same for the other side. Throw away the topped and tailed ends. Wash the Cucumber in clean water, and slice. Store in a container until needed.

Cooking the Sambal

Ingredients for Sambal Paste - Slice Onions, Ginger and Lemongrass. De-seed and slice fresh Red Chillies. Soak dried Red Chillies in hot water for 10 minutes, drain (reserve the water). Slice the Candlenut. Place Onions, Ginger, Lemongrass, fresh Red Chillies, Dried Chillies; Candlenut and Belacan (if using) into a blender. Add a little of the reserved water from the Dried Chillies (just enough to get the blender going) and blend until you get a paste. Pour into a dish and set aside. 

Slice Onions. Mix the Tamarind Paste with 1 tablespoon of water to make juice.

In a large wok, heat a little Oil. Fry the sliced Red Onions until slightly transparent. Add in the Sambal Paste and cook until the Sambal is fragrant and the Oil floats to the top. Add in the Tamarind juice. Mix through and cook until you see the Oil floats to the top again. Then add in the reserved fried Ikan Bilis, as well as Salt and Sugar to taste. Dish out onto a serving dish and keep warm until needed. 

Cooking the Rice

Skin and slice the Ginger. Cut-off the tops of the Lemongrass and leave the bottoms whole. Gently bruise both Ginger and Lemongrass with a mallet. Set aside. 

Wash Rice in cold water 3-4 times to get rid of excess starch. Add just enough water to come up to half one-third of your finger (see photo). Add in the Coconut Milk concentrate and mix through. Place your palm flat on top of the Rice to level it out. Place bruised Ginger and Lemongrass on top of the Rice. Cook in the rice cooker with the lid ever-so-slightly open until done. Once done, remove and discard the Ginger and Lemongrass. Let the Rice cool in the cooker for 10 minutes. Then, using a wet fork or chopstick, lightly fluff-up the grains. Dish out onto a serving dish and keep warm until needed.  

Assembling the Nasi Lemak

Place 1 or 2 scoops of Rice in the centre of a plate. Arrange the Sambal either on the side or on the Rice. Then arrange the Egg, Cucumber slices, fried Peanuts and Ikan Bilis on the side. 

Ending festivities on a sweet note

This is what Malaysians would call being 'gatal' meaning having 'itchy' fingers or fingers that can't keep still. Not only did I make two types of rendang for Hari Raya, but also some Pineapple Jam Biscuits, which started off as tarts and mutated into biscuits.

There's no real story to this other than me just wanting to eat Pineapple Jam Tarts - just like the rendang - and since I have pretty high standards for tarts I decided to make them myself... on Hari Raya evening... while watching NCIS Season 6. I do so adore Mark Harmon and have done for a long time, so watching back-to-back repeat episodes - while rolling biscuits - was a blissful way to spend a quiet evening at home. (That and the earlier remark should give you an inkling of just how much time I spend in front of the TV in a week - almost zero!)

The idea for these biscuits came from here. I didn't however follow the recipe for the pastry because I couldn't bring myself to use that much of Condensed Milk. 

Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE Condensed Milk, but only in my hot drinks and to make into a faux dulce de leche for Banoffee Pie. (Though I'm quite sure I'm going to break this rule soon when I attempt making the Kueh Lapis Batavia/Spekkoek, but let's not talk about that now.)

Let's talk about these lovely biscuits. They were lovely. Buttery, crumbly, short kind of lovely. I'm so happy they didn't end up in the dustbin, where some of my more uncontrolled baking experiments go.

That said, the endless rolling of jam and dough made me restrict myself to baking only one tray that night, with the remainder left for the next day. I KNOW you can make these smaller and more delicate-looking. That was the initial aim. However, mine turned-out roughly the size of ping-pong balls and ultimately looked similar to Penang's famous tau sar pneah. Maybe I should call these pineapple pneah?

PINEAPPLE JAM BISCUITS

450g Plain Flour

230g Salted Butter, cold and cubed

3 or 4 tablespoons Icing Sugar, sifted

A pinch of Salt

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

1 Egg Yolk

2 tablespoons Condensed Milk

3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

500g Pineapple Jam

1 Egg

Vanilla Essence

Some Black Sesame Seeds

In a large bowl, mix the Plain Flour and Salted Butter with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the Salt and Icing Sugar. Using your fingers, gently mix both through the Flour/Butter mixture. Make a well in the centre of the Flour/Butter/Salt/Icing Sugar mix and put the Vanilla Essence, Egg Yolk, Condensed Milk and Oil in. Using your hands, bring everything together to form a ball of dough that cleanly leaves the sides of the bowl. Set aside. 

Roll Pineapple Jam into little balls and place them on a plate. 

To assemble the biscuits, take a pinch of dough, roll it into a ball and then flatten it out with the heel of your palm. Place a ball of jam in the centre and carefully close the dough around it. Lightly pinch any holes close and roll the dough/jam ball until the dough looks nice and smooth. Place it on a very lightly greased baking tray. 

Repeat until all the dough and jam is used up. 

Crack the Egg in a bowl and add in a drop of Vanilla Essence. Mix until well-combined. Brush the tops of the biscuits with the egg wash and sprinkle some Black Sesame Seeds on them.

Bake the biscuits in a 150 Celsius oven for about 20 - 25 minutes or until the egg wash looks a light golden in colour. Remove from the oven and cool on the tray. Once cool, store the biscuits in an airtight jar. 

Notes

• You may have a little dough or Pineapple Jam left over. Put it in a container and store in the fridge. Use up the dough within 5 days. The Pineapple Jam can be left longer if it is a sweet jam. If it is sour, then use within 2 weeks. 

Rendang Tok

31 July 2014 - Updated the photo.

So I said in the previous post that I wasn't going to attempt rendang again anytime soon, but I did. What was I going to do with all that Galangal and Kaffir Lime Leaves anyway? 

This time round I made a Rendang Tok. My version of it anyway, which is give-or-take some of the spices. I liked the look of Ummi's rendang, so that's the recipe I used with a little tweaking.

Some people liked this more than the previous version! Well well well. That's not too bad. Looks like my rendang cooking skills are not too shabby after all.

No nice photos unfortunately, because I was tired from all the prep and stirring towards the end. Also, while the Beef was cooking in the oven, I made some very quick, very delicious Pineapple Jam Biscuits. 

RENDANG TOK

Meat Marinade

800g- 1kg Beef Brisket, cubed

3 teaspoons Tamarind Paste

2 teaspoons Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon Salt

Dry Spices (to dry roast and grind fine)

2 tablespoons Coriander

1 tablespoon Cumin

1 tablespoon Fennel

1 tablespoon Black Pepper

Wet Spice Paste (to blend)

20 dried Red Chillies, soaked in hot water and drained

1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder

4 medium Red Onions

4 cloves Garlic

1 thumb-sized piece Ginger

1/2 thumb-sized piece Galangal

3 stalks Lemongrass

Other ingredients

500ml thick Coconut Milk

70g Kerisik

6 Kaffir Lime Leaves

3 Star Anise

4 Cardamon pods

Palm Sugar, to taste

Salt, to taste

Oil

Meat Marinade

In a large bowl, mix the Salt, Sugar and Tamarind Paste together. Add in the Beef cubes and toss till well mixed. Set aside. 

Dry Spices

Dry roast the spices over medium heat till aromatic. Cool and then grind into a fine powder in a dry spice blender. Set aside.

Wet Spice Paste

Slice, cut or snip all the spices. Put all the ingredients into a blender. Add a little water to get the blender going and blend until you get a paste. Set aside. 

Cooking the rendang

Heat a large pot over medium heat and add Oil. Then add the Wet Spice Paste, Star Anise and Cardamon. Fry spices for a minute. Then add in the Dry Spices and Kaffir Lime Leaves. Fry a few minutes more until slightly aromatic. 

Add in the Beef and stir until the meat is well coated with the spices. Then stir in all of the Coconut Milk. (The Coconut Milk should just cover the meat) 

Cover the pot with its lid and place in a 160 - 170 Celsius oven for about 1 hour or until the meat is slightly tender.

Remove pot from the oven and then transfer the contents of the pot into a wide flat-bottomed wok. On low to medium heat, stir the gulai until the Coconut Milk starts evaporating little by little. This should take about 20 - 30 minutes. Just before the 20 - 30 minutes is up - when there's still liquid in the wok - add in the Palm Sugar and Salt to taste. 

Lastly, add in the Kerisik. The mixture will suddenly start thickening. Keep stirring until the liquid is evaporated and the Oil starts floating to the top and sides of the rendang. 

Switch off the fire, cover the wok with its lid and let it sit on a cooler part of the stove until it comes to room temperature. Before eating, warm the rendang up a little and serve with hot boiled rice or nasi himpit or lemang.    

Notes

• I used my trusty cast-iron Le Creuset pot for the first part of the stove and oven cooking. It helped make the meat nice and tender. I then switched to a wide flat-bottomed wok.
• You can use just one pot for the whole cooking process, but then you have to stir for hours until everything comes together. I prefer to forget the rendang for at least an hour, so into the oven it goes. I'm just a bit lazy like that. Also nothing stuck to my pot or wok, which made washing up a breeze.  
• I would use slightly less Kerisik the next time, as I felt 70g was a little bit too much. 

Selamat Hari Raya and a tale of Beef Rendang

It's Hari Raya. The time of the year when one eats all the goodies of the season in the form of nasi himpit, lemang, kuah kacang, kueh, and of course rendang. 

There are all sorts of rendang, but I'm not going to get into that today. What I am going to get into is that a week ago I realised I might actually miss out on all these goodies especially the rendang. Now, I don't celebrate Hari Raya, but going without rendang during the season was just impossible to deal with. So I decided to make my own. 

This is not my first attempt at rendang and as I do love a good Beef Rendang, I've tried to make it before but not quite so successfully. It's quite an effort to get the flavour and tenderness of the meat right. 

Armed with research from here and here, I made what I think is the best rendang I've ever made, ever. It had a gorgeous flavour and above all, the meat is fork-tender. Both use similar ingredients with the exception of the quantity called for and two or three additional spices.  

There were a few stressful moments while making this dish though.

First, I panicked and kept checking on it every five to ten minutes, when the recipe said to leave it well alone. (This is when I sent an S.O.S. to a friend on Facebook to find out if I should be looking at it cook every few minutes or not. I was told yes, a little bit too late!) Why? Because I finally DID leave it alone only to find at the end of the first hour that the bottom was starting to get burnt. Oh dear, oh dear.

So after a quick check on the tenderness of the meat, I turned on the oven and into it went the pot for its second hour of cooking. 

After the second hour was up, the contents of the pot went into a flat-bottomed wok for caramelising, 'frying' of the Spice Paste and reducing the gravy.

All in all, the rendang took about three and a half hours to make from beginning to end, including prep time. I was relieved and tired once it was done. The dish was delicious this evening with some boiled rice, but hopefully better tomorrow once it has a chance to have a good night's rest. This and a Butter Cake is what I'm taking over to Aunty Jaibun's later today.

Don't think I'd repeat this anytime soon. Maybe next year Raya is soon enough? 

BEEF RENDANG

Adapted from Not Quite Nigella and Dentist Chef

1.2kg Beef Brisket, cubed

2 teaspoons Salt

4 teaspoons Sugar

3 teaspoons Tamarind Paste

80g *Kerisik

Spice Paste (to be blended)

4 medium red Onions

6 fresh Red Chillies, de-seeded

28 dried Red Chillies, soaked in hot water and drained

2 thumb-sized pieces Ginger

1/2 thumb-sized piece Galangal

6 cloves Garlic 

Other ingredients

2 teaspoons Turmeric Powder

6 Kaffir Lime Leaves

4 stalks Lemongrass, bruised

4 slices Galangal

5 tablespoons Palm Sugar

2 teaspoons Salt

1/2 teaspoon White Pepper

4 tablespoons Oil

1 litre Coconut Milk, divided

In a large bowl, mix the Salt, Sugar, Tamarind Paste and Kerisik together. Add in the Beef cubes and toss till well mixed. Set aside.

In a blender, blend all the ingredients for the Spice Paste. If needed, add a little water to get the blender going. Blend until you get a fine paste. Set aside. 

Heat a large pot over medium heat and add Oil. Then add the Spice Paste. Fry the Spice Paste for about 1 minute and then add all the other ingredients into the pot. Cook for about 3 minutes, then add 750ml of the Coconut Milk. Add the Beef and stir through until the meat is well-coated. 

Cover the pot and cook on very low heat for 1 hour. Add in the remaining Coconut Milk and adjust the seasoning. I then put the pot into a 170 Celsius oven to cook for a further hour or until meat is tender.

After the second hour of cooking. Remove the pot from the oven and transfer everything in it to a flat-bottomed wok. Turn the heat on to low and start stirring the rendang every 5 - 10 minutes to prevent any sticking. Keep stirring until the gravy reduces and changes into a darker, more chocolate colour. The rendang is done once the gravy dries up leaving the meat with a caramelised coating. Cover and cool in the wok. Before eating, warm it up a little and serve with hot boiled rice.

*Kerisik - Make your own kerisik by toasting about 80g of dessicated coconut in a dry wok until it is aromatic, brown and well-toasted. Transfer to a pestle and mortar. Pound the crisp coconut lightly until you get a semi-fine powder. 

Notes

• This is my first time cooking Beef Brisket. It is so far the best cut of beef I've used to make a rendang.
• I used my cast-iron Le Creuset pot for the first two hours of cooking. Next time I'd put the pot straight into the oven for the first two hours of cooking to prevent the rendang getting burnt.
• I would experiment with slightly less Coconut Milk next time. I used Ayam Brand Coconut Milk. 
• I didn't use the Dark Soya Sauce called for in Not Quite Nigella's recipe, as I wanted the dish to caramelise on its own. 

Now, just what do I do with all that Galangal and Kaffir Lime Leaves I had to buy?