Nasi Lemak

Ingredients for Nasi Lemak

• 100g dried paper lantern chillies, dried bird chillies, or dried chillies de árbol

• 475ml vegetable oil

• 120ml red-skin Spanish peanuts

• 375g small dried anchovies

• 2 medium shallots, halved

• 3 garlic cloves

• 2 Holland chillies, stems removed, halved lengthwise

• 4 1/2 teaspoons sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons tamarind concentrate

• 2 cups jasmine rice

• 1 tesked kosher salt

• 3 pandan leaves (optional)

• 1/2 cup light unsweetened coconut milk

• 4 stora ägg

• 1/2 English hothouse cucumber, cut in half lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise

• Soy sauce (for serving)

Chop paper lantern chillies into 1/2" pieces, discarding most of the seeds that fall out. Place in a small bowl and pour in boiling water to cover. Let sit 30 minutes to soften, then drain.

Meanwhile, bring oil and peanuts to a gentle simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook, adjusting heat as needed, until peanuts are golden brown, 6–8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer nuts to paper towels to drain; set aside for serving. Immediately add anchovies to oil and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2 minutes. Transfer to fresh paper towels; let cool. Set 60ml oil aside.

Pulse shallots, garlic, and 60ml fried anchovies (save remaining anchovies for serving) in a food processor until a smooth paste forms. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add paper lantern and Holland chillies to food processor (no need to clean) and pulse until very smooth and no visible pieces of dried chilli remain. Transfer chilli purée to a small bowl.

Heat reserved oil in a medium skillet over medium-high until shimmering. Add shallot mixture and cook, stirring, until slightly darkened in colour and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Mix in chilli purée and cook, stirring often, until it starts to stick to bottom of skillet, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add sugar, tamarind concentrate, and 60ml water and cook, stirring often, until sambal is much darker in colour and thickened, 25–35 minutes.

Do Ahead: Sambal ikan bilis can be made 1 week ahead. Let cool; cover and chill.

Place rice in a medium saucepan and pour in cold water to cover; swirl with your hands to rinse away some of the starch. Drain and repeat process 2 more times. Water should be just slightly cloudy at this point. Place rinsed rice back into saucepan and cover with 2 1/2 cups cold water; stir in salt. Gather pandan leaves (if using) together and tie into a knot; add to pan. Bring rice to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover pan and reduce heat to low; cook 18 minutes. Remove lid and stir in coconut milk. Cover, remove from heat, and let sit 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Carefully lower eggs into water. Cook 10 minutes, then transfer to a bowl of ice water and let cool. Peel eggs and cut in half lengthwise.

Combine sambal ikan bilis, reserved fried peanuts, and reserved fried anchovies in a medium bowl and toss to evenly coat. Scoop a generous 120ml sambal mixture into a 350g bowl. Top with 275g rice and pack into bowl with a rubber spatula to compress. The bowl should be filled to the rim. Place a slightly larger bowl upside down over bowl of rice. Invert so larger bowl is now on the bottom; lift off smaller bowl. You should have a dome of rice and anchovy mixture nestled in the centre of the larger bowl. Arrange 8 cucumber slices around rice dome, overlapping slightly to make a semicircle. Add 2 egg halves to side of rice with no cucumber slices; season yolks lightly with soy sauce. Repeat with remaining rice, sambal mixture, cucumbers, and eggs to make 3 more bowls.

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