Nasi lemak is special, special to the hearts of all Malaysian. Although in my household one would think my husband was an Asian in his last life, or so all my elders (family & friends) members seems to think so.

The most important expect of nasi lemak is the nasi lemak sambal. Each person seems to have his/hers own special recipe as well as each household.

One can have nasi lemak with fried fish, chicken, sardines sambal, prawns sambal, sotong sambal and for me the dreaded petai sambal. (I just cannot get on with the smell of petai!)

There are limitless types of food you can serve nasi lemak with but the old school MUST have is the sambal sauce, the cucumber, peanuts, boiled eggs, and fried crispy ikan bilis (anchovies) served with fragrant coconut and pandan leaves flavoured rice.

This is my nasi lemak sambal recipe. I have a little chat with a good friend and finally found out what I have been missing in my nasi lemak sambal kuah (sauce). I was never quite satisfied with mine till now. I have since cooked this twice to make sure. Now I am extremely satisfied and felt I can share this. I do not document food I do not like.

Put this sambal in air tight containers and vacuum sealed. I have even posted to friends who are extremely happy with it. You can absolutely freeze them for a lazy day.

In this pic you will see my nasi lemak share platter which I served with tri-coloured rice. I cooked the nasi lemak sambal the night before and on the day itself I boiled plain coconut and pandan rice with a couple slices of ginger, then I did the same with pandan juice and saffron. I like a nice presentation, yes I do. Food taste much nicer if they are pleasing to the eyes.

TIP – After I fried my ikan bilis and removed from hot oil with a sieve I like to sprinkle them with a dusting of icing sugar while still hot. This makes your ikan bilis stay crispy longer and a lot more tastier. It’s the combination of salt and sugar that is irresistible. However you do not have to do so.

p/s I am sure you do not need me to tell you how to boil nasi lemak However do not forget your liberal pinch of salt.

Update (06/09/2020) – today I added galangal as part of my ginger portion and I really love the taste

Please note that I fried a bunch of anchovies (ikan billis) first then used the oil to cook the kuah. In the kuah itself I add in extras minced ikan bilis (not the fried ones) and minced undang kering. These really add extra ‘ooooomph’ to my kuah in my opinion. After the kuah is done then I added in a portion of the fried ikan billis and saved some for garnishing.

I make this sambal udang balacan/belacan a few times a year. It is when we, the family kept asking me when I am making again or when my friends persuade me “when you next make sambal udang belacan can I book 10 jars please” then only I make.

Now I am not sure how to write a fix recipe as I have never measured my ingredients. I taste as I make and add a bit of this and that to make it resemble the taste I know. The taste of how my mother’s sambal used to taste like.

When I was a youngin’ when my mother made this, we always make them into sandwiches Do you know dried shrimps sambal that has a generous amount of dried shrimps taste amazing with buttered bread? If you have not try before, try it. My husband loves this on buttered brioche rolls.

Now as I said I have not measured my ingredients. when I asked my mother she will tell me a bowl of this and half a bowl of that. So I will attempt to tell you. However sambal is one of those dish you can make your own. There is absolutely no right or wrong. When I first started making I tried to add this and that (not mentioned by my mother) but in the end I do not like the taste. Not nostalgic lah. so I stick back to the basic ingredients. If for any reason I want to use this sambal to cook other things then I will add other ingredients as and when.

Take this recipe as a guide and make your own as sometimes our onions has a stronger taste or our chillies is hotter. I remember one time I bought some chilli powder that were so hot! I of course had to add more sugar. I will give you tips to adjust.

Oh yes when using the dried chillies, snip off the heads a bit and empty out as much of the seeds as you can. When I was young grandma use to say don’t let the males eat chilli seeds or they can’t pee – kekekekekeke Funny things I remember from young but now that I am all grown up I know that it is the spicy hot food that can increase bladder pain and inflammation in some people thus making it hard to pee for them. BUT there is some truth in so called ‘old wives’ tales after all!

Torch Ginger Flower Chicken cooked with belacan aka shrimp paste – Sambal Belacan Ayam Bunga Kantan. For reason unknown I love torch ginger, the smell, the taste, it’s fragrance, I just love them. When I got 2 huge jars from a friend who came back to UK from Malaysia I happily spent days thinking how to make good use of them. My friend spent time going to the markets in Ipoh, (Perak, Malaysia) and bought all the bunga kantan he could find, sliced them and semi fried them in oil. Then he packed them into jars and brought them all the way to UK for me with love.

Hence this dish – Torch Ginger Flower Chicken cooked with shrimp paste