The ever popular and delicious Nasi Lemak Bungkus served with spicy anchovies, peanuts, hard boiled eggs, and cucumber slices wrapped in banana leaves.
Every Malaysian and anyone who has ever lived in Malaysia for a period of time would know about Nasi Lemak. This ever popular and ubiquitous dish can be found at the humblest street corner stands to the poshest hotel restaurants. In the old days, one does not have to look far to get a taste of this dish. Vendors came round with baskets filled with little pyramid shaped packets of Nasi Lemak wrapped in banana leaves and newsprint during ball games and public events. Yet, it is still cooked at home for picnics, parties, and regular meals.
Nasi Lemak – Malaysia’s de facto National Dish
Malaysians love their nasi lemak and can’t leave home without it. It is as popular abroad as it is in the homeland. You will likely find this dish in a gathering of homesick Malaysians and it is offered in every Malaysian restaurant I have encountered overseas. One can indeed say that Nasi Lemak is the de facto national dish of Malaysia.
Nasi Lemak means creamy rice. The rice is cooked in coconut milk infused with pandan leaves. A little ginger is sometimes added. The most basic accompaniments to this rice are sambal ikan bilis (spicy anchovies), hard boiled egg, slices of cucumber, and peanuts. Other popular add-ons include Chicken Curry, Beef Rendang (dry beef curry), sambal sotong (spicy squid), and acar (spicy vegetable salad).
Nasi Lemak Bungkus
Traditionally, Nasi Lemak is wrapped in newsprint lined with banana leaves. The banana leaves enhances the dish as it imparts a light fragrance to the rice when wrapped warm and allowed to sit for a short period of time. Nasi lemak wrapped in banana leaves are becoming scarcer as more and more vendors use waxed paper. Restaurants normally serve them on plates.
I do eat my fair share of Nasi Lemak whenever I visit my parents in Malaysia. 😀 These pictures were taken in the summer of 2010. I also ate lots of Nasi Lemak Bungkus but unfortunately I did not take a picture of the pyramid shaped packages which I must remember to do so the next time I visit.
Nasi Lemak Bungkus – The Quintessential Malaysian Breakfast
The quintessential Malaysian breakfast is Nasi Lemak Bungkus accompanied by a cup of sweet kopi-o. When ordering coffee in Malaysia kopi-o means coffee with sugar only. If you just say “kopi”, it will come sweetened with condensed milk. By adding the words “kurang manis”, you will get it less sweet. For black coffee, say “kopi kosong” which is like zero coffee with no sugar and no milk. For iced coffee, say “kopi peng”.
Malaysian Coffee
Malaysian coffee is strong coffee. For some it is an acquired taste. The beans are roasted with butter or margarine and sugar, giving it a slightly burnt smell. Coffee is made by pouring boiling water through ground coffee held in a cloth sock filter in a koleh or enamel mug. This resulting brew is thick, strong, and bitter. It can be drunk hot or iced. Do give it a try if you get a chance to visit.
Biren is not much of a coffee drinker. So what kind of coffee does she drink in Minnesota? Löfbergs Lila Swedish coffee ….. err decaffeinated and brewed in a coffee brewer. 🙂
Eating with Fingers
Don’t be surprise if you see someone doing this in the warong (Malay eatery) or Indian stall. Some Baba Nyonyas do eat with their fingers too but usually only at home. Always use your right hand even if you are left-handed. Food should never go above one’s knuckles. If other dishes are served together in a meal, use your clean left hand to take food with the serving spoon provided. Do clean both hands with the bowl or flask of water set on the table specifically for that purpose before and after the meal. I have known of visitors to Malaysia who have unwittingly drank from the hand washing bowl much to the consternation of the host!
Similar Tools Used in Making This Nasi Lemak Bungkus
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• Proctor Silex 1-1/2-Cup Food Chopper
• Cuisipro Stainless Steel Measuring Cup and Spoon Set
• Cuisinart Professional Stainless Saucepan with Cover, 1.5-Quart
The ever popular and delicious Nasi Lemak Bungkus served with spicy anchovies, peanuts, hard boiled eggs, and cucumber slices wrapped in banana leaves.
- 2 cups long grain rice (equivalent to 2¾ cup rice cooker cup) (400g)
- 2 pandan leaves (knotted)
- 1 inch ginger (crushed) (30g)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2½ cups coconut milk (600ml)
- ½ cucumber (thinly sliced)
- 4 hard cooked eggs (sliced)
- ½ cup Spanish peanuts or roasted peanuts (85g)
- 8 pieces banana leaves measuring 10-inch x 8-inch each (optional)
- 8 pieces newsprint measuring 12-in x 7-inch each (optional)
- 4 oz ikan bilis / dried anchovies, trimmed and peeled (100g)
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp tamarind concentrate
- ¼ cup water (60ml)
- 1 tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 6 dried chilies
- 4 red chilies
- 1 lemongrass (white part only, sliced)
- 1 onion or 6 shallots
- ½ inch cube belacan
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Wash and drain rice 4 to 5 times in rice cooker insert. Cover washed rice with water and allow it to soak together with knotted pandan leaves for 20 minutes. Drain rice and dry exterior of rice cooker insert. Add pandan leaves, ginger, and salt. Pour in coconut milk. It should come up to about the 2¾ cups level.
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Place insert into rice cooker and press the start button. When rice is cooked, unplug the rice cooker and allow rice to sit for 10 minutes. Fluff rice with a pair of chopsticks or a fork before serving.
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Wash and drain rice 4 to 5 times in rice cooker insert. Cover washed rice with water and allow it to soak together with knotted pandan leaves for 20 minutes. Drain rice and add pandan leaves, ginger, and salt. Pour in coconut milk. Place pot on the stove over medium heat. When coconut milk comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and allow rice to cook until all coconut milk is absorbed. This will take about 10 minutes. Turn heat down to the lowest possible setting and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Let rice sit for 10 minutes before fluffing rice with a pair of chopsticks or a fork before serving.
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Break dried chilies in half and shake off seeds. Soak in warm water for 15 minutes. Wash and soak ikan bilis separately for 15 minutes. Drain and blot dry with paper towels.
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Blend all spice paste ingredients until fine, adding a tablespoon of water if needed. Remove and set aside.
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Heat oil in a medium sized pan. Add ikan bilis and fry till golden brown, about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove and set aside.
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Add remaining tablespoon of oil and spice paste in the same pan. Fry spice paste until fragrant, about 3 to 5 minutes.
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Mix tamarind paste and water in a small bowl. Pour into pan and stir to get spices and tamarind juice well mixed. When it comes to a boil, add sugar and salt.
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Finally, return fried ikan bilis** to the pan and cook for 2 to 3 more minutes. Remove.
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Place a bowl of rice on plate with half and egg, a few slices of cucumber, some peanuts, and sambal ikan bilis pile on top of rice.
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Alternatively, place warm nasi lemak portion on a piece of newsprint lined with banana leaf. Banana leaf should be slightly longer but narrower than newsprint. Bring both long edges of banana leaf and newsprint to meet in the center with the one edge overlapping slightly on one end. Criss-cross the flaps in the center by placing bottom flap on the top on the opposite end. Fold both ends under to form a pyramid shape package.
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Let package of rice sit for 10 minutes before serving so that rice will absorb some of the banana leaf fragrance.
**Alternatively, fried ikan bilis can be separate from the sambal.
Update: June 19, 2016
Today is Father’s Day and since this is Ro-Ri San’s favorite Malaysian breakfast, I got up early to make him some Nasi Lemak Bungkus. He was so delighted! 🙂
This time I decided not to add the fried ikan bilis (anchovies) to the sambal so that it will remain crispy. You can do it either way. It will be just as delicious.
I also took this opportunity to add the step-by-step pictures for wrapping the Nasi Lemak Bungkus which was not there previously. Hopefully, you will find it useful.
I also made him a cup of “white” coffee. He was a happy camper and so was I. 😉
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 😎
Looks delicious! Those anchovies look particularly interesting! I have to try it!
Yes, do give it a try Pola. I hope you like it.
Nasi lemak satu please!! I miss having this type of nasi lemak. Used to eat it so often at Jalan 222 in PJ with teh tarik 🙂
Gert, I’ll give you dua bungkus. Satu bungkus tak cukup. ;). Yes, I know the one at Jalan 222. There is also a delicious nasi kandar stall there.
Nice dish – this is new to me. The ikan bilis look really attractive (great color!), and the sambal sounds delicious. Nice combo of flavors. Thanks for this.
I hope you get to try this one of these days. I am definitely biased but it really is a nice combination. 🙂
Wah! Your nasi lemak looks so good, I’m surprised this came out of a kitchen in Minnesota 😉 My mum’s favourite breakfast is nasi lemak and kopi-o and the newspaper bungkus reminds me of the nasi lemak aunty in my primary school canteen – 30 cents a packet!! Now I feel like cooking nasi lemak tomorrow. It will be wonderful with the kalio ayam leftover from today’s dinner! Btw – do I see serundeng and chicken curry on one of those nasi lemak plates?
I actually prefer my nasi lemak with kopi or kopi susu peng kurang manis. So sedap! That is why I need to go on a crash diet before I visit. 😉
Those were the days. I think we only paid 10 cents or 20 cents per packet in primary school. Sometimes, someone’s mom would bring a basket with all these nasi lemak bungkus but they were so popular that you can’t even get close to it unless you have “jalan”. You know what I mean?
I can’t remember if that was serunding or sambal hae bee. That little plate on the top left was acar. That nasi lemak was from Madam Kwan in KLCC. Used to be known as Sakura and they are famous for their nasi lemak. Prices have gone up so much and that plate cost a whopping RM20.00!
BTW, what is kalio ayam? It probably has a different name in Malaysia.
Kalio is a style of cooking curry from Padang, Indonesia, where my husband’s family originates. It’s like rendang but with gravy and usually cooked with chicken as chicken doesn’t require long simmering so the gravy won’t dry up like in beef rendang.It’s THE most cooked gulai in our house, in fact, I really think I could do it blindfolded now 😀
Wah, sounds really delish! Your neighbors must be salivating all the time with all the wonderful aromas coming out of your kitchen.
Wow …love the detail of the recipe and the photographs are mind blowing!!
Thanks Mina for your kind words! 🙂
I would love to visit Malaysia and try this first hand, and then stop in at your house and try yours!! It looks yummy!!! I have plenty of banana leaves in my yard, I just have touble finding pandon leaves…and I have tried. Maybe I can find a screwpine plant for my yard! Any ideas where I can find one? 🙂
I hope you get to visit one day and try all the delicious food you have been seeing and reading on the Malaysian food blogs. Wow…fresh banana leaves! I buy mine frozen from the Asian grocery stores. Try the Vietnamese shops for pandan. They are known as “la dua” in Vietnamese and are usually found in the frozen section.
Loving this dish…
Specially those spicy anchovies… I am so drooling…
Yum!!!
I had Nasi Lemak in a Malaysian restaurant a couple of weeks back – it was delicious! I am so glad you posted this recipe. Now I can try making this on my own 🙂
P.s. Thanks for sharing it on RecipeNewZ!
Dua bungkus nasi lemak for me please…my all time favourite!
Rice with fried anchovies and egg is a favorite breakfast in the Philippines and I find it really good! But this one sounds even better! Rice cooked in coconut milk tastes wonderful for sure! And the spicy anchovies makes this more appetizing!
I love the sound of wrapping food in banana leaves..it looks just amazing, Biran!
You say it well, Biren! Every Malaysian should know about Nasi Lemak!! Your Nasi Lemak looks delicious! My mom used to cook this when I was young, and we would cut the leaves from our banana trees, wrapped up the Nasi Lemak and eat it half an hour later. We could eat packets after packets!! My mom would usually cook a big pot of rice and we will have it for lunch and dinner! Nobody complained, everyone loved it! Thanks for the stirring up those memories!! :o)
Wah…you have your own banana trees! After that the tree “botak-lah” with so many packets of nasi lemak. 😀
Indeed, nasi lemak is one nostalgic food, almost a signature dish of Malaysia. Love it 😀 You’re a great ambassador to the local foods of M’sia, Biren! Banana leaves, newsprints, eating with the fingers, and all the kopi’s. LOL! There’s another “kopi” as well. The “kopi-C” or “kopi sii” with sugar and evaporated milk. “Kopi-C peng” will be iced coffee with suga and evaporated milk.
Thanks Nasifriet! Have not eaten with my fingers for a long,long time. This time is just to demonstrate how it is done. 🙂
Ahh…thanks for reminding me about “kopi sii”. This is not as common and so I “sudah lupa”. 😀
I love coconut rice, but I guess I’ve never had the real thing. You recipe and method sound wonderful! This Nasi Lemak sounds delicious. I’ve only had a couple of dishes wrapped in a banana leaf but never anything like this. Thanks for sharing this traditional dish! That’s why I love coming here – always interesting and new foods!
Okay, Biren.. my mouth is watering. I would eat this anytime! 🙂
I spent a summer in Malaysia and miss the food so much! Especially because there are no restaurants in Chicago! This will definitely be on my to cook list!
I am glad to hear that you got to visit Malaysia and enjoyed the food. Unfortunately I am not familiar with Chicago. There is a Malaysian restaurant here in Minneapolis and they serve all kinds of Malaysian favorites. Hopefully you get to cook this nasi lemak soon. 🙂
Authentic! I love nasi lemak for the spicy anchovies lol! otherwise, you don’t see me eating it. Anchovies sambal is a must!
Yes, the sambal ikan bilis is a must. Some styles are different with a sambal and then fried ikan bilis. That’s nice too but I like the sambal ikan bilis better because mom prepares it that way.
That does look like a dish that is full of interesting flavours. Love how it’s served in a banana leaf.
I miss this, I remember having this in Mamak in Malaysia. Its always on the centre table waiting to be opened by anyone who is tempted to.
I learned about this dish immediately after I started blog hop. Ever since then I have been curious about this taste. Everyone in Malaysia loves this and talks highly of this… Got to visit Malaysia or probably closer to visit you Biren! :-).
Wow, nice collection of nasi lemak pix! S’poreans are crazy over this too. In fact, I just had it for lunch. Hubby bought it from a popular stall named “Power Nasi Lemask”. Hahaha! What an innovative name! Lovely recipe, dear!
Oh Biren, such a tasty dish you have here…from the coconut rice to the flavorful anchovies…
Hope you are having a great week 🙂
WOW! You always have something so fantastic and unique up your sleeve. the anchovies with that spice and wrapped up in banana leaves? GENIUS and who doesn’t love a great flavored rich dish! Job well done!
This looks so yummy! Love esp. those anchovies!
Ooh I love nasi lemak! To me it’s the perfect blank canvas for adding all the yummy spicy add-ons. Ikan bilis is a must! That’s the bare minimum for me: ikan bilis, an egg, cucumbers, and loads of sambal! I like it with sambal telur (deep fried eggs) which I just wrote about too (: Or sambal udang (prawns). Or that fried fish! I’m getting carried away already.
Oh Biren I’m so excited about learning new things about food from different cultures and countries, this is such an exotic recipe!
thank you for sharing my friend!
Ah! This brings back such amazing memories of the time we lived in Singapore! How I miss the hawker center food… Thank you for this gorgeous recipe, Biren! I am going to make this for my husband and me and we are going take a walk down memory lane 🙂
Great recipe. Would you be happy to put up a link to it in my Food on Friday – Asian Food Series.
I absolutely love nasi lemak. When I flew to Malaysia with MAS, I didn’t even hesitate to have nasi lemak for breakfast!
Biren, of all the myriads of Nasi Lemak recipes I’ve read through & (some) made, i truly enjoy & believe that yours is the closest to what I tasted in most Nasi Lemak Bungkus throughout most states & towns i’ve eaten. In Johor State alone i’ve tasted from JB, Kulai, Skudai, Ulu Tiram, Kota Tinggi, Masai, Kluang, Muar, Batu Pahat, Air Itam, Pontian, Mersing & other states & towns like Melaka, Mesjid Tanah, Tanjong Keling, Seremban, KL, PJ, Damansara, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam, Genting, Cameron Highlands, Ipoh, Taiping, Georgetown, Pulau Tikus, Bayan Baru, Bukit Tambun, Seberang Perai, Alor Star, Sungai Petani, Langkawi, Kuala Perlis, Endau, Kuantan & Cherating …. Yours is the best so far since, to be fair, I’ve yet to explore Trengganu, Kelantan & East Malaysia. I’m not kidding but this is my gospel truth. Anyway, I’m cooking your version for tonight’s dinner, it’s “nasi lemak night”. By the way, though I’m living in Singapore, i still find our Malaysian Nasi Lemak bungkus is unbeatable, invincible in terms of simplicity, taste, portion & price. Like what Cakap Melayu, “Lagi shiok, lagi sedap!”
I am not sure which part I did wrong but my sambal came out bitter. I followed your instructions step by step. The only thing I am not sure about is the tamarind sauce.
None of the ingredients for the sambal are even remotely bitter unless you accidentally used a different ingredient. The tamarind is asam jawa. You can use either the paste or concentrate. If you use the paste, you will have to rinse, soak, and strain the juice. Here is a picture of both the concentrate and the paste –> Asam Jawa.