Have you ever tried googling for a recipe only to find different people telling you different ways to cook the same thing? That was exactly what happened when I went in search of the way to cook nasi lemak kukus (steamed coconut rice). There was one that had three or four 10-minute steps and then I came across another where the rice was steamed first before the santan (coconut milk) was added. Of course, the less-complex latter sounded a lot more attractive to me since it would be a lot simpler so I thought I could give it a try.
I had some santan (coconut milk) left in the fridge left over from when I cooked the Sarawak laksa a while ago. It said on the pack that it should not be kept in the freezer and could be stored in the fridge but one would have to use whatever was left within three days. Gosh!!! That was almost two weeks ago but since it seemed all right still, I decided that I would just go ahead and use it and be done with it. Waste not, want not!
I got the ingredients ready – a few thin slices of ginger, one shallot, peeled and sliced, two stalks of serai (lemon grass), bruised…and a pandan (screw pine) leaf cut into short 2 or 3-inch lengths…
…and a bit of salt and mixed them with some leftover rice that I had in the fridge that morning…
Then, I poured in the santan but ooooopsss!!!! There was too much of it for that little bit of rice…
…but what the heck!!! I decided to just go ahead with it and steamed it for some half an hour or so.
I also had two half-eaten tubs of sambal ikan bilis in the fridge from God-knows-when. We can buy that here, very nice ones, in those little plastic tubs that they use for homemade kaya (coconut jam), for only RM5.00 each. I remember I bought two as I thought my girl would want to take one back to her school to eat with rice or whatever sometimes but somehow or other, she never did. I did eat half of what was in one tub and I had no idea who had a bit of what was in the other one. Well, they probably were shoved into some obscure corner in the fridge and were conveniently forgotten until that day, when I decided to do a little bit of cleaning and found them. It seemed all right still so I heated all of it and served it with the nasi lemak kukus…
I also cooked one egg, hard-boiled for the purpose and since there was no cucumber in the house, tomatoes would just have to do…
Hey!!! It sure didn’t taste too bad, really! Hmmm…since that was the case, I probably would want to try cooking this again – starting from scratch this time and with all fresh ingredients, no more leftovers.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Nicely done, everything looks so colorful and delicious. Your title made me think of the movie Dazed and Confused. I think there was also a song with the same name. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrtQ5uIOcKY
Yes, Led Zeppellin. Old time rock, heavy metal group.
Not too bad but not good either? LOL
Good but I am pretty sure if I start from scratch and not simply use leftovers, it would be really nice. Will try that sometime. This one was some kind of a test run.
Lovely presentations! When I cook, the food I prepare (so I am told) is delicious, but my presentations are not great at all. 🙂
It would feel nicer looking at nicely presented food but of course, the test of the pudding is in the eating.
Beautiful! You did well from the look of it. Good luck in the next attempt.
Hopefully, will get down to it soon. You know lah…the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I’m so lazy. 😀
LOL, the tomatoes look so out of place in that plate! 😀
What to do? No cucumber in the fridge and I did want some veg with it. At least, they added a very nice colour to it all.
Same here, i also lazy, hehe…
Looks like we all are, eh?
Your nasi lemak looks so colourful & beautifully done and not forget to mention, nice presentation. Which is a better way to cook nasi lemak, steaming or using rice cooker? Taste wise, is it better than what you can get from outside?
The time I tried cooking using a rice cooker – it was not successful, not lemak at all. Tastewise, better than many outside, lemak and fragrant, but the rice was over-soft, quite soggy so that was one big minus point. Enjoyed eating it nonetheless.
try to put daun salam (bayleaf) in it…
They sell those dried, right? Not sure if I can get them here at our native produce market, fresh ones.
Whenever I think of eating good, I think of your blog. I like the way you describe all those cookings of your own. Thanks for sharing and also the leaves of ketongtong which are edible. I tried too and they are sour!
I take that as a compliment? 😉 😀 The kedondong leaves aren’t exactly sour, kind of tangy but we had with rojak sauce, went very well together, didn’t feel it as being sourish at all.
Happens to me a few times, googling for recipes and finding too many opinions. Usually I’d stick with the easiest, depending on how hard it is to source for the ingredients as well. Lol. So THAT’s how nasi lemak kukus is done, you steam the cooked rice again! not bad at all…
No, that’s my easy way out. Seems you need to steam the rice first and then add the santan towards the end – if you use cooked rice like me, it gets rather soft and soggy, not so nice…but thankfully, it tasted fine. Will try again sometime.
good stuff, nice end result. The process of making it sounds very interesting though when you put it in writing 😀
I enjoyed trying it out and eating the end result. Still room for improvement, of course, lots of it…and I’ll certainly work on it. Hopefully, I’ll get it right one day. 😉
I love Nasi Lemak, but I can’t take much, due to the calories that I scare. I would prefer to have Nasi Lemak with Sambal Petai.
Yours look indeed presentable and pro.
Yes, good to watch one’s diet. I always believe that moderation is the key. Once in a while is fine but not every day – this IS the standard Malaysian breakfast for many people, I know…every morning!
Different way of cooking maybe give a bit different taste, also another reason for you to try different of cooking then can make comparison!! =]
True, how very true. No law that says we can’t do things our own way, anyway. Something can be nicer…or easier to prepare – we would not know unless we try and do it differently.
Your rice Must be very fragrant … pandan leaves and creamy santan… soggy or not after steaming? Arthur, sooner or later, you can start on another blog.. Sibu homemade dishes!
It was…a bit. Over-soft, to be exact…but thankfully, it did not turn into porridge and it actually tasted very good.
I guess every family will have their own recipes. and ways on how to do things. how i cook pasta is not necessary how the italians do it, but my kids sure love it! that’s most important.
and your nasi lemak kukus sure looks tempting at this hour 🙂
Well, somebody must have done that – being creative or innovative…or we would not have so many recipes from all over. They must start somewhere. However, for one thing, I cannot follow standard recipes – it will definitely be disastrous. For another, I do enjoy trying things my way – experiment with this and that…and feel rather pleased with myself when the thing turns out great.
You are a good cook Arthur.. I think you know how to cook almost anything.. I never cooked nasi lemak before coz I dunno how to estimate the amount of santan used.. One wrong step and the rice would me mushy.. Hubby dislikes mushy rice, but he doesnt complain much as I need to cook mushy rice since G started eating solids.. I love your rice, egg, everything in the picture.. Colourful and appetizing 🙂
This one was mushy…a bit as I used pre-cooked leftover rice. I was thinking that if they steam the rice first, then it would be cooked already too…and it would boil down to the same thing. Maybe I poured too much santan – I just wanted to use it up instead of keeping it for too long.
Ooohhh…so much santan! Yeah, one recipe – so many versions, that really gets me confused. Sometimes, I’ll just borrow some ideas here and there and come up with my way and make adjustments where necessary. You must share your nasi lemak kukus when you next make it from scratch 🙂
Yup! I thought I could use all that was left in the carton so I poured it all out – was so dismayed to see there was still so much. Thankfully, it was not too bad so it was o.k. Not sure when I will try again – that would mean getting another carton of santan…and getting stuck with half of it and not knowing what to do with the rest. 😦
wow wow!! So clever, now where is the ikan bilis and peanuts.
No peanuts, a few ikan bilis in the sambal. Next time, I will make sure I have them all! 😉
YAY for rice! AND…tomatoes looked like a great choice, too!!!! Nice job!
It was very good…but traditionally, for this coconut rice dish, they use cucumber.