Vegetarian nasi lemak
Coconut and pandan rice served with a sweet-hot sambal, toasted peanuts, golden tofu and a jammy boiled egg.
Photo : مانفی · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Total
- 60 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
Method
- Rinse the rice, then cook it with the coconut milk, 250 ml water, the salt and the pandan leaf: 12 minutes covered on the lowest heat, then 10 minutes resting.
- Blend the shallots, garlic and drained chillies to a smooth paste with a splash of water.
- Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the paste over medium heat for 12 minutes, until it darkens and the oil separates out.
- Add the palm sugar, tamarind and 100 ml water, season, and reduce for 5 minutes to a thick, glossy sambal.
- Toast the peanuts in a dry pan for 5 minutes, then brown the tofu cubes on all sides in the remaining oil.
- Boil the eggs for 7 minutes, cool them under cold water, peel and halve.
- Build each plate with a dome of rice, a spoon of sambal, the peanuts, tofu, cucumber and half an egg.
Nasi lemak is Malaysia’s national breakfast, often wrapped in a banana leaf to eat on the move. For a vegan version, swap the egg for an extra helping of tofu.
