Nasi Lemak in Singapore: The Breakfast That Finally Made Sense

The first time I looked closely at nasi lemak, I could not understand why everything was on the same plate.

There was rice cooked with coconut milk and pandan, fried chicken, cucumber, sambal, peanuts, small anchovies and an egg. Chicken and fish together? Peanuts with rice? And this was breakfast?

Nasi lemak is a Malay dish enjoyed in Singapore and Malaysia. The fragrant coconut rice is at its heart; the accompaniments vary. The chicken on my plate was one version of the meal, not a rule every nasi lemak has to follow.

I decided to leave the combination to people who understood it.

The first attempt was in the air

A few years later, Singapore Airlines offered me nasi lemak on a flight. I said yes. It was an airline version, and I do not know how closely it matched any particular stall’s recipe. But I liked it enough to try the dish again on the ground.

That was when the combination finally made sense.

The sambal brought heat and flavour to the chicken. The rice softened the heat and added a coconut taste. Cucumber gave me a fresh, cool bite. Peanuts added crunch; the anchovies supplied a small, concentrated savoury hit.

The National Library Board’s account of hawker food places nasi lemak among the coconut-rich, spice-filled dishes of Malay cooking. What had looked like a collection of unrelated objects was a meal with a very clear idea.

One ingredient remains under investigation

It took me about three years to appreciate sambal. I describe a similar change of mind in my story about BBQ stingray. I am evidently not a fast student when the lesson is a red sauce.

I still have no strong explanation for why my plate needed the egg as well. I like to think it was there to reassure me that this was breakfast.

Everything else had already won its argument.