Nasi Lemak (Coconut rice)

Name: Nasi Lemak (Coconut rice)
Yield: 4

In Malaysia, you can have nasi lemak for breakfast with sambal, hardboiled eggs, cucumber, fried anchovies and peanuts, all wrapped in banana leaves and newspaper to have on the go if you’re in a hurry to get to work or school. The creaminess of the coconut milk makes the rice a little sticky, which works well to bind all the other ingredients you might want to add to it. Nasi lemak is also served at many special occasions with rendang, especially during the festive season or at a wedding. Sham Hanifa's personal favourite is coconut rice served with prawn sambal.

4 people

Sham Hanifa Chef

Ingredients

500g basmati rice

2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks

2–3 fresh pandan leaves, tied into a knot

2 × 400ml tins of full-fat coconut milk

200ml water

1 tbsp fine sea salt

1 tbsp caster sugar

Main

500g basmati rice

2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks

2–3 fresh pandan leaves, tied into a knot

2 × 400ml tins of full-fat coconut milk

200ml water

1 tbsp fine sea salt

1 tbsp caster sugar

Soak the rice in a bowl of cold water for at least 30 minutes, then drain and rinse until the water runs clear.

Pop everything into a rice cooker if you have one and cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

If cooking on the hob, put everything in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a boil, then cover with a tight-fitting lid, reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting and cook for 30–45 minutes, until all the liquid has been absorbed.

To serve, discard the pandan leaves and fluff up the rice with a fork.