Strange ingredients of Nasi Lemak

Nasi lemak is a Malay dish beloved in both Singapore and Malaysia. The combination initially looked surprising to me: 🍚 rice, cooked in 🥥 coconut milk and pandan leaves, 🍗 fried chicken, 🥒 pieces of cucumber, drizzled with 🌶️ spicy sambal sauce (but why?), 🥜 fried peanuts (whaaat?! why?), dried or fried 🐟 anchovies (whaaat?! chicken and fish at the same time?! is this for beer or something?), and a boiled or 🍳 fried egg (well, let it be). And also, take note, this dish is for breakfast!

When I first saw all this, I decided: “Okay! I will probably skip this unfamiliar combination of ingredients. I just can’t understand it!” A few years passed… Once I was flying on Singapore Airlines, and they offered me Nasi Lemak on board. And I agreed. Of course, it was the “airplane” version of the dish, and maybe the taste was adapted, but I liked it! There was something in it. I decided to give this strange food a chance and try the regular version.

And then I understood what the catch with Nasi Lemak was. You eat delicious fried chicken with sambal sauce (it took me 3 years to understand this sauce, but that’s another story) and cucumbers, the rice softens the spiciness and gives an interesting coconut aftertaste, a little peanut makes the dish crunchy, and the anchovies act as a natural flavor enhancer and make the taste more vivid. The puzzle came together! It’s very tasty. 😋 I still don’t understand, though — why is there an egg? But let’s chalk that up to the “breakfastness” of the dish. If you get a chance, try it!