Home Cooked Nasi Lemak

 

My sister-in-law's signature dish - Nasi Lemak with its accompanying dishes of prawns fried in assam (tamarind) and fried fish.

 

Fish in assam (tamardind) gravy

 

Specially fried fish with special marinated sauce

 

The prawns with shells intact and marinated with assam (tamarind)

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I have been blessed with relatives who can cook very well - my older siblings and their wives as well as my two older sisters. Hence, you can understand why I have always been plump since young.

I went back to my hometown, Penang, for the lunar New Year. We dined out a lot, but on one particular evening, my sister-in-law, Saw Kim, had a request from everyone - to cook her signature dish of nasi lemak (rice with coconut). It is more fragrant when we use fresh coconut juice. Grated coconut can be bought from the market and squeezed. Pandan leaves are added to make the rice more fragrant. In fact, one can easily enjoy the rice with just some nice chilli sauce sans other ingredients. The popular dishes that go with the rice are usually curry prawns or fried prawns in assam marination, fried fish, fried anchovies with peanuts, fresh slices of cucumber and sambal belachan (chilli with prawn paste), etc.

My niece, Tyng's steady boyfriend, Jeff, who lives in the States, loves the nasi lemak so much, that each time he visits Malaysia and Singapore, he will sample some nasi lemak.