Nasi lemak is a
dish that’s beloved by all. The simplicity of fragrant coconut cream
rice with a good spicy-sweet sambal is the basis of great enjoyment that
transcends race. Nasi lemak is a malay name of "spicy coconut rice". There is even a movie in Malaysia that’s chosen
Nasi Lemak
2.0 as its name, and it speaks about uniting cultures. “Individually
they are peanuts, anchovies and boil eggs, put all together they make nasi lemak,” said one
actress.

Nasi lemak "Malay Style": the malays used to be a breakfast ritual for the Malays, but is now
eaten even for lunch and supper. The Malay style remains simple and
uncluttered. The rice can be very humble local broken rice, but the
coconut fragrance and spicy sambal tumis more than make up for it. The
supporting cast of crispy anchovies, peanuts, fried or boiled egg, fried
ikan kuning and cucumber also help to make it stellar. Some Malay or
Indonesian stalls may amp it up with
fried chicken wings, achar (pickles), and sweet-and-spicy mermaid fish, but the general version just has the few regular ingredients.
Nasi lemak "Chinese Style": the chinese have adopted nasi lemak with great passion, but have
practically turned it into a variant of “chye peng” (rice with dishes).
At Chinese stalls, you’ll often see a mind-boggling array of side
dishes. Fried slices of luncheon meat, sausages, fish cake, fried eggs
with runny yolks, stir-fried vegetables, otah, sambal squid/prawns and
even curries. Everything goes with
coconut rice!
However, the coconut rice tends to be less or “lemak” or rich, and the
sambal leans towards sweet rather than spicy. While both Malays and
Chinese like a certain sweetness in their sambal, the Chinese in general
have a lower tolerance for chili heat. So the Chinese sambal tends not
to be as spicy as the traditional ones cooked by Malay families.
Well, such cultural variations only spice up our enjoyment of this dish.
Whether it is simply packed in banana leaf, or sold with an entire
entourage of side dishes, there’s no denying that as a cheap and tasty
meal, nasi lemak is here to stay.