And the Asian Recipe Winner is Nasi Lemak

My Maylasian friend sent me an authentic recipe.  I'm not sure if I will find everything or how it will turn out, but I'm going to give it a try today. 

Soon Heng Lim says, "One of the easier to make Malaysian recipes is Nasi Lemak, together with Roti Canai, the National dish of Malaysia." 

Nasi Lemak

Ingredients:
300g long grain rice
2 shallots
2 slices ginger
1/8 tsp fenugreek seeds (halba)
1 tsp salt
375-400ml coconut milk (from 1/2 a grated coconut)
2 pandan leaves, knotted (Not sure if you're going to find this in the US! Maybe find a substitute...a fragrant herb) The local Thai restaurant  had this!

Method
Wash rice until clean then drain. Put rice, shallots, ginger, fenugreek and salt in a rice cooker. Pour coconut milk over the rice. (The level of the coconut milk should be 2cm above the level of the rice.) Cook rice until dry then use a wooden laddle to loosen the grains.

Sprinkle the rest of the coconut milk over the rice. Give it a stir with a pair of chopsticks to distribute the milk evenly. Stand for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the rice to absorb the coconut milk. Keep rice warm before serving with other condiments.

Sambal Ikan Bilis: OPTIONAL (Soon Heng says, "I suggest you serve the rice with just the Rendang below. After all you are providing just a taster, right?") I'm not making this tonight.

1 bombay onion
1/2 cup dried ikan bilis (anchovies)
1 clove garlic
2 tbsps tamarind juice
4 shallots
8 dried chillies
Prawn paste (belacan) (Optional)
Salt and sugar to taste

Method
Fry the ikan bilis until crisp and put aside. Grind the prawn paste together with shallots, garlic, deseeded dried chilies. Slice the bombay onion into rings. Heat 2 table spoons oil in a pan and fry the ground ingredients until fragrant.

Add in the onion rings. Add tamarind juice, salt, sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally until the gravy thickens. Add in the ikan bilis and mix well. Serve with steaming hot Nasi Lemak.

Beef Rendang (Beef Chunks cooked in coconut milk)- DO THIS ONE

Ingredients:
600g beef topside, cubed

Grind together:
4 tbsp chilli boh
7 shallots
5 cloves garlic
4cm piece ginger
2 onions
4 stalks lemon grass, finely sliced
3cm piece galangal (blue ginger) The local Thai restaurant had this too! 
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp fennel powder
1 litre thick coconut milk (extract from four grated coconuts)
1 litre water
1/2 cup kerisik (pounded dry-fried grated coconut)
1 tbsp finely-shredded daun limau purut (lime leaves)

Seasoning:
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp brown sugar or to taste

Method
Combine beef, coconut milk, water and ground ingredients in a deep saucepan. Simmer over low heat for one and a half to two hours until beef turns tender.

Add kerisik and continue to cook until the gravy turns thick and dry. Add seasoning and daun limau purut. Cook until beef is almost dry.

GOOD LUCK!

It turns out our hostess and her husband had lived in Maylasia for 6 months while he taught some Finns from Nokia. They both seemed to think it tasted authentic and were excited to eat it again.

To see what everyone else brought go to this site  or to see pictures of it go to this site