I confess. I'm sucker for nasi lemak.
Despite my weekday office lunch being healthy salad + tuna most times, I still can't resist the temptation of eating nasi lemak (fragrant coconut milk rice) almost every Saturday, bought from Sri Petaling morning market. :)
Cheat days on Saturday and Sunday? Yes! Yes! Yes!
How could I eat salad every day 7 days a week? :) I'm also human. lol!
Yeah - nasi lemak is not a healthy breakfast. It's fattening and containing high calories. But somehow, I thought if I eat it on Saturday, I will burn it off during Sunday LSD run. And I would have reset everything back to zero when it comes to Monday - a brand new week. Ha! ha! What a childish thought yeah? :) I guess I have been giving myself excuses to indulge in the most favorite food in Malaysia - nasi lemak.
Usually I pack nasi lemak for my dad, domestic helper and myself for lunch as our domestic helper works 5.5 days a week only. No lunch preparation by her for us. That means every Saturday and Sunday I have no choice but to eat outside food, unless I cook.
Most popular and cheapest nasi lemak stall
Our most favorite nasi lemak in Sri Petaling is the seller in a van usually parked across the road from Lucky Restaurant and Bank Rakyat. It's owned and operated by a very friendly, humble Malay chap and his family members. I love to buy from him because the price is very reasonable and I can scoop up as much peanuts, anchovies, cucumber and eggs as I want with same price. The whole process is DIY - self service. And my favorite will be the nasi lemak with a piece of chicken breast cooked with dried chili. The price is very reasonable. The nasi lemak tastes awesome but recently the chili is too spicy due to different type of dried chili being used to make the sambal. Other than that, it's perfect for its price. Usually, there is a long long queue too.
New kid on the block - designer nasi lemak for only RM1
Recently, I have noticed a new kid on the block - I mean - not really a kid on the block - but a family of 3 (father, mother and son) in a Perodua setting up a small little table selling RM1 nasi lemak. The location is at the entrance of Sri Petaling morning market (car park building) right outside of Coffea Coffee.
The catchy sign of "RM1 nasi lemak" and the long queue of customers waiting for their turn to buy the nasi lemak have finally caught my attention.
Curiosity kills the cat! Due to my curiosity, I finally decided to join the crowd by queuing up to give it a try 2 weeks ago.
During the queue, it gave me a great opportunity to observe how the small little pack of nasi lemak is prepared.
My oh my!! Shall I say that this family entrepreneur has a very strong sense of creativity and innovation?
Look at how it's being prepared.....
- little banana leave lays creatively like a boat sampan...
- fragrant coconut milk rice is prepared round shape using a round bowl
- hot chili sauce cooked with lots of sweet onions will then be placed on top of the round-shape nasi lemak.
- Instead of the usual hard-boiled egg, the egg is pan-fried into very thin layer and placed on top of the hot chili sauce
- Cucumber? No cucumber though.
- Peanuts? Also no peanuts.
- Anchovies? Only one or 2 can be found in each pack. It's cooked with the hot chili sauce along with the sweet onions.
Isn't it creatively prepared? A nasi lemak food art!
Look at it - isn't it creatively prepared?
It looks so cute too.
I have never thought a cheap RM1 nasi lemak can be prepared so creatively and elegantly.
As I was queuing for my turn. I was so in awe by the sellers' preparation - patiently placing the banana leave, then the round shape nasi lemak, then the hot chili sauce before finishing it with a thin slice of pan-friend egg.
It's truly a food art!
Interestingly packed into a designer little packet
May be the sellers really study art.
Even the packing of little nasi lemak can also be so interesting - with the banana leave sticking out partially showing the uniqueness of this RM1 nasi lemak.
How about its taste? designer taste?
I must say that for RM1, I can forgive for not having fried peanuts and cucumber and virtually no anchovies.
Not the typical nasi lamak I must say.
But sweetness of the onions in the fried chili sauce, the rich protein taste of the pan-fried thin layer egg go surprisingly well with the fragrant coconut milk rice with the banana leave smell permeated through the air.
I really enjoyed the RM1 designer nasi lemak! In fact I ate 2 little packets! ha!ha! It's simply delicious despite not having friend peanuts, cucumber and anchovies. The awesomeness of the fried chili sauce with exceptionally sweet onions has already more than made up for it.
What I also enjoyed was the creativity and innovation of the nasi lemak preparation - from the point of being prepared, to the point of being packed.
I definitely give it 2 thumbs up!
If you ever pass by Sri Petaling in the morning, please swing by the morning market at multiple-storey car park and check out this small little stall (actually only a table) outside Coffea Coffee. They are not there every day though. So far they have not been regular. But I hope you are lucky to have a taste of the RM1 designer nasi lemak yourself one day!
Long live Nasi Lemak!! :)
Written on 2016.12.05
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