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May 22, 2007

Iron Chef series: Authentic Nasi Lemak!!

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Today's Iron Chef is Ms. Lyndel! Majoring in Hotel, Tourism and Management, Lyndel has experiences in handling big food catering events and restaurant businesses. She hasn't been home for 4 years, and her craving for authentic Malaysian food has spurred her on to create her own recipe list! To date, the inventory boasts a range of cuisines including kiam chai ak th'ng, 3-egg porridge, nasi beriani, wonton mee, etc etc.. and today, I'm featuring her authentic nasi lemak! Believe me, it's super nice. I had a super long reaction after biting into the fresh basmati rice with a hint of pandan and coconut richness, the hot and spicy sambal, the cooling cucumber, and the egg just complete everything in a punch. Literally stimulate my taste buds and send me to heaven.

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Ingredients:

For the nasi>>
1. Basmati rice (long grain) - 6 cups
2. Coconut milk + water - 7th level in rice cooker
3. Ginger - 4-5 slices
4. Pandan essence - 1 1/2 teaspoon or less
**(Iron Chef can't find pandan leaves here, so pandan essence is the next best alternative)
5. Salt to taste

For the sambal>>
1. Sambal Olek with garlic - 2 bottles
**(If can't get the sambal olek w/ garlic, use garlic - 1/4 bulb per bottle)
2. Baby anchovies - 5 rice cups
3. Onions - 2 bulbs
4. Tomatoes - 1 1/2 big can (or 3 medium cans), diced
5. Sugar - 2-4 rice cups, depends on the level of sweetness you want
6. Kicap manis ABC - 1 1/2 rice cup
7. Tamarind concentrate - 2 tbs
8. Chicken stock granules (without onions) - ~1/2 rice cup

Tumeric ayan goreng>>
1. Chicken drumsticks - 10 pieces
2. Tumeric powder - 2 tbs
3. Salt to taste

Sides>>
1. Anchovies, deep-fried
2. Eggs, sunny side up or hard boiled
3. Peanuts, roasted
4. Cucumber for garnish


Modus Operandi:

For nasi>>
1. Put all ingredients into rice cooker, mix up well, and let the pot do the rest. Done.

For sambal>>
1. Blend onions and mix it with sambal olek w/ garlic. If sambal olek w/ garlic is not available blend in garlic also. Then mix in baby anchovies.
2. Heat up some oil in a big pot and pour the mixture in. Stir until fragrant.
3. Put in chicken stock granules, tomatoes and tamarind concentrate and stir again. Stir constantly under high heat.
4. Add sugar and kicap manis ABC according to your taste (the measurements above is perfected by Iron Chef lol)

For tumeric ayam goreng>>
1. Marinate chicken with salt and tumeric powder until it's orangish in color. Wrap and refrigerate overnight
2. Take out the next day and deep-fry.

Tips from Iron Chef for the sides>>
1. When boiling eggs, remember to add salt to the boiling water (~1/2 rice cup worth) so that the eggs won't crack easily.
2. After the eggs are done, transfer them into ice cold water to prevent the membrane layer of the egg from sticking to the albumin (in short, it's easier to peel the eggs).
3. Roast raw peanuts with a little bit of salt to add flavour.
4. Before slicing the cucumber, cut one tip of the vegetable and rub the cut surface together. This helps in getting rid of the latex which is the source of its bitter taste.

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May 11, 2007

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