whine & dine

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That’s right, boys and girls, I finally did it. I brought nasi lemak to Hong Kong. (Or, to my flat anyway.)

For those wretched souls out there who have never had the divine pleasure of tasting this dish, it’s a Singaporean/Malaysian rice dish. The name is roughly translated to mean “rich coconut rice” (lemak being a Malay term that means “rich”, but specifically thanks to the addition of coconut milk), and centres around two main components: the titular starch, and sambal. The rest of the ingredients vary – from the ikan bilis (small, crispy, anchovy-like fish) and salted peanuts, to Malay-style fried chicken wings, an egg in some form (crispy-fried, or an omelette), luncheon meat (at the non-Halal stores anyway!), ikan kuning (yellowtail scad, dusted in turmeric and fried to crispy perfection), to sayur lodeh (an Indonesian vegetable stew in coconut curry).

For this feast at home, brought on by my mother very kindly bringing up a triple-wrapped tub of sambal up with her to Hong Kong when she last visited, I went with some of my favourite side dishes, but tried as far as possible to keep the experience fairly authentic, since we had a nasi lemak newbie among us. As you can see in the picture, I picked peanuts, ikan bilis, long beans with spicy minced pork, crispy slices of luncheon meat, chicken wings and a fried egg, all served around the rice, with a good dollop of sambal sitting atop some peeled and sliced cucumber. It was pretty epic – and my favourite compliment of the night was when a fellow Singaporean at dinner said she’d definitely return to a nasi lemak shop that served food of this standard! :D

Having googled around for recipes, it turns out that the rice was pretty easy to make. It was just a matter of cooking 2 cups of rinsed and drained Thai jasmine rice in an equal amount of of coconut milk, a finely minced shallot, a big pinch of salt and 5 bruised pandan leaves. Cook it however you normally cook rice, and hey presto you’re in business!

The chicken wings, however, were a slightly trickier story. I’ve long wondered how Malay-style fried chicken wings are so freakin’ tasty, especially considering they haven’t got my usual secret weapon (LARD) up their sleeves. I played around with some of the spices in my pantry, and think I came up with a pretty good approximation. I’ve included the recipe below, and if all goes according to plan, I’ll get my bum off the couch and figure out how to make the sambal soon, so Singaporeans all around the world won’t ever have to suffer the indignity of substandard nasi lemak in horrendous approximations of Singaporean restaurants ever again.

Malay-style Fried Chicken Wings

15 pieces of chicken wings (I used 10 mid wings and 5 drumlets)
3 shallots
5 garlic cloves
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
2 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp cornflour + more for dusting

canola oil, for deep frying

Rinse the chicken pieces, and pat dry. Set aside.

Finely mince the shallot, and place in a medium, non-reactive, mixing bowl. Grate the garlic and ginger into the bowl, being sure that any juices drip into the bowl. Add in the rest of the ingredients, and stir well to mix evenly.

Add the chicken pieces in and toss so each piece is coated in the marinade. Cover, and allow to marinate for at least 1 hour, or for up to 8 hours, in the fridge. About 30 minutes before cooking, remove from the fridge, spread out on a tray and allow to come to room temperature.

Heat about an inch of oil in a deep-sided skillet or wok to about 170ºC. It should not be smoking. (If the oil is too hot, the outside of the chicken will burn before the insides are cooked through.) While the oil is preheating, place about a cup of cornflour in a shallow dish, and dredge each piece of chicken in the cornflour. (Cornflour gives a crust that stays shatteringly crisp even after the chicken pieces have cooled, which makes it ideal for deep-frying in advance.) Fry the chicken in a few batches, without overcrowding the pan, for about 7 minutes, turning the pieces every couple of minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.

Drain well on paper towels, and serve immediately, or keep warm in a low oven until ready to serve.

Yield: Serves 5 (or 3 greedyish people)