Nasi Lemak with Mamak Fried Chicken/ Cauliflower

Nasi lemak, with all its trimmings! The rice(nasi) gets its richness from being cooked with coconut milk (lemak). In Singapore, you can get nasi lemak with all sorts of toppings, the most basic being salty crunchy roasted peanuts and anchovies, cool cucumber and a boiled or fried egg. For a top-tier plate though, I would add a spiced fried chicken, aka ayam goreng. Our Mamak Curry Leaf & Roasted Cumin Paste makes a punchy marinade for the fried chicken, or cauliflower if you’re veggie. My only other non-negotiable is a sweet, spicy sambal tumis to tie together the coconut rice and all the other elements on your plate.

Serves 2-3

For the coconut rice

1 cup basmati rice
1/2 cup (125ml) coconut cream
1/2 cup (125ml) water + a bit left from washing the rice
1/2 tsp salt
1 lemongrass stalk (skip if you can’t find)
2 pandan leaves (skip if you can’t find)

Wash the rice twice, tipping away the milky water. There will be a bit left in the pot. To that, add the coconut milk, water, salt and lemongrass/ pandan. 

Pop everything into your rice cooker to cook. Or if cooking in a saucepan, bring to a simmer over medium heat, until most of the water’s gone and you see little craters. Then cover with a lid, and turn it down very low for 15 mins. Turn the heat off and let it finish steaming in the residual heat for another 5 mins.

Fluff with a rice paddle and serve with the toppings below.

For the fried chicken/ cauliflower

250g chicken thigh fillets, or cauliflower
2 heaped tbsp Rempapa Mamak pastę
Rest of the tin (75ml) of coconut cream 
50g cornflour
big pinch of sea salt
any neutral oil, for frying

Cut the chicken into 2.5cm pieces. If using cauliflower, break into largish bite-sized florets.

In a  large bowl, mix the Mamak paste with the coconut cream, and mix well with the chicken or cauliflower. Leave to marinate in the fridge for 2 hours, or overnight. 

30 mins before you’re ready to cook, take the chicken or cauliflower out of the fridge to let it come closer to room temperature. In the meantime, pour about 2cm of oil into a wok or frying pan and heat until it reaches 180C. Or dip a wooden spoon in, you should see steady (not furious!) bubbles form immediately.

Add the cornflour and salt to a tray, lift the chicken out and coat in the seasoned cornflour. Then drop gently into the oil and shallow fry for about 3-5 minutes or until golden brown, flipping over once.

Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Other toppings:
2 eggs, fried or boiled
1/2 cucumber, sliced
1 handful of dark roasted peanuts
50g dried anchovies, pan-fried in a bit of oil until golden (skip if you can’t find)
Rempapa Sambal Tumis

This recipe will leave you with extra Mamak paste, try it in your next curry or dal. Sambal is yummy over fried eggs or anything and everything really! Check out our recipe section for more ideas.