Strange ingredients of Nasi Lemak

Strange ingredients of Nasi Lemak

Singapore is located near Malaysia, there are many Malays here, and Malaysian cuisine is popular. So! The most popular Malaysian dish, Nasi Lemak, includes the following ingredients: 🍚 rice, cooked in 🥥 coconut milk and pandan leaves, 🍗 fried chicken, 🥒 pieces of cucumber, drizzled with 🌶️ spicy sambal sauce (but why?), 🥜 fried peanuts (whaaat?! why?), dried or fried 🐟 anchovies (whaaat?! chicken and fish at the same time?! is this for beer or something?), and a boiled or 🍳 fried egg (well, let it be). And also, take note, this dish is for breakfast!

When I first saw all this, I decided: “Okay! I will probably skip this exotic dish made from completely incompatible ingredients. I just can’t understand it!” A few years passed… Once I was flying on Singapore Airlines, and they offered me Nasi Lemak on board. And I agreed. Of course, it was the “airplane” version of the dish, and maybe the taste was adapted, but I liked it! There was something in it. I decided to give this strange food a chance and try the regular version.

And then I understood what the catch with Nasi Lemak was. You eat delicious fried chicken with sambal sauce (it took me 3 years to understand this sauce, but that’s another story) and cucumbers, the rice softens the spiciness and gives an interesting coconut aftertaste, a little peanut makes the dish crunchy, and the anchovies act as a natural flavor enhancer and make the taste more vivid. The puzzle came together! It’s very tasty. 😋 I still don’t understand, though — why is there an egg? But let’s chalk that up to the “breakfastness” of the dish. If you get a chance, try it!