Nasi lemak
Serves: 4
Prep time: 35 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Kris Kirkham
Nasi lemak
Nasi lemak, which translates as ‘fat rice’, is a popular breakfast dish across both Malaysia and Singapore, consisting of creamy coconut rice accompanied by an array of savoury, salty, spicy accompaniments. If you’re a fan of bacon and eggs for breakfast, you'll love the rich, salty hit this dish gives you – it’s the perfect wake-up call for your taste buds!
Serves: 4
Prep time: 35 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
774Kcal
Fat
49gr
Saturates
20gr
Carbs
57gr
Sugars
5gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
24gr
Salt
2.8gr
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Ingredients
- 1 x 400ml tin full-fat coconut milk
- 250g basmati rice
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 60g unsalted peanuts
- 50g drained anchovies
- ½ cucumber, ribboned
For the sambal
- 30g peeled shallot
- 2 garlic cloves
- 5 red chillies
- 1 bird’s-eye chilli
- 20g macadamia nuts
- 2 tsp Thai fish sauce
- 1 tsp light brown sugar
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
Step by step
- To make the sambal, roughly chop the shallot, garlic and chillies and put in a food processor with the nuts, fish sauce and sugar then blitz to a paste. Heat the oil in a frying pan; gently fry the paste for 6-8 minutes, stirring regularly, until it deepens in colour. Set aside.
- Put the coconut milk in a saucepan and fill the tin with the same volume of water. Add to the pan and bring to the boil. Add the rice and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until cooked. Drain and leave to steam dry.
- Meanwhile, lower the eggs into a pan of simmering water and cook for 6 minutes for soft-boiled yolks. Remove from the heat and plunge the eggs into a bowl of cold water.
- Heat the sesame oil in a small frying pan and fry the peanuts for 1-2 minutes, or until golden. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a dish lined with kitchen paper and then add the anchovies to the pan. Fry for 2-3 minutes, or until crisp. Add to the bowl of peanuts.
- To plate up, peel and halve the eggs. Put a quarter of the rice in a small deep bowl and level the top, then up-end on to a serving plate. Repeat with the remaining rice. Divide the cucumber ribbons, halved eggs, peanuts and anchovies between the plates and serve with the spicy sambal.
