Nasi Lemak
- Serves 4
Discover the secret to crafting the perfect Nasi Lemak with fried chicken at home! Dive into our mouthwatering recipe, packed with aromatic coconut rice, golden crispy chicken, fiery sambal, and all the traditional fixings. Elevate your home cooking with a taste of Singaporean cuisine. Follow our step-by-step guide and bring the flavors of Commune Kitchen to your kitchen today! 
​
Find our fun and easy Nasi Lemak video on Instagram - follows us for more!​

Ingredients

CHICKEN INGREDIENTS:
8 large chicken wings or Ikan Kuning
1 tablespoon or to taste turmeric powder 1 tablespoon or to taste chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon coarse sea-salt, or to taste 1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
 
TO FRY CHICKEN:
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
 
RICE INGREDIENTS (use rice cups for measurement) About 2 rice cups pandan water (made with 15 pandan leaves blended with 500ml water, strain) 2 cups Jasmine rice
1 cup thick coconut milk
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 inch ginger, peeled and smashed 2 pandan leaves, knotted
1 lemongrass, smashed

REMPAH INGREDIENTS
8 shallots, peeled and chopped
5 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped 5 candlenuts, rinsed
1 inch ginger, peeled & chopped
1 inch galangal, peeled & chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, bottom half   finely   chopped 40g dried Kashmiri red chilies, soaked in hot water for about an hour then drained, deseeded and cut into smaller pieces
3 fresh red chilies, deseeded and roughly chopped 20g tamarind, soaked in ½ cup hot water
 
FOR FRYING REMPAH
1 lemongrass, smashed
3/4 cup vegetable or olive oil, plus more if needed 1 teaspoon sea-salt, plus more if necessary
8 teaspoons sugar, plus more if necessary
 
To serve:
1 cucumber, sliced
4 Eggs, boiled, omelette or sunny side up Fried groundnuts and Ikan Bilis, to serve

Recipe
TO MARINATE CHICKEN:
  1. Place chicken a medium bowl. Sprinkle all over with spices, and salt. Drizzle oil and Shaoxing wine. Give it all a good toss and refrigerate overnight. Let it stand at room temperate for about 30 minutes before frying.
  2. To fry chicken: In a wok or saucepan, heat a few inches of vegetable oil on medium-high flame. Once hot enough, deep-fry spiced chicken wings for 7-9 minutes until crispy golden all over. Drain on paper towels, before serving alongside sambal, pandan rice, and fried Kacang Ikan Bilis.
 
Note: Ikan Kuning (fish) can be cooked and marinated the same way
 
TO MAKE RICE
  1. Place 15 chopped pandan leaves in an immersion blender with 500ml water. Blend until smooth, then strain and set the green liquid aside.
  2. Rinse Jasmine rice until the water runs clear – place rice in a rice cooker.
  3. Pour in the same volume of pandan water (2 cups) as the volume of your rice, and salt – stir.
  4. Add ginger, knotted pandan leaves, lemongrass and switch on the rice cooker. Once cooked, add coconut milk and stir in quickly – close the lid and let it continue to steam.

TO MAKE SAMBAL
  1. To make REMPAH: Place all ingredients for rempah in a hand blender with a few tablespoons chili water – blend until very smooth.
  2. Massage tamarind after soaking it in hot water for 30 minutes. Strain well; discard solids and save juice for later.
  3. Heat oil in heavy base wok or saucepan. Add smashed lemongrass followed by rempah – fry on low-medium flame for about 25-30 minutes until fragrant and until oil separates. Add tamarind juice and bring to the boil; thicken as needed.
  4. Add salt and sugar – stir well and adjust seasoning as per your taste.
 
TO SERVE:
Portion your rice onto four plates, and serve alongside Sambal, 2 chicken wings per plate, sliced cucumber, egg, fried Kacang (groundnuts), & Ikan Bilis.
 
Note: To make fried groundnuts and Ikan Bilis at home - fry raw groundnuts in hot oil until almost brown, the drain. Then add the ikan bilis into oil and fry till crispy. Serve as above.
For more delicious recipes, check out our upcoming hands-on cooking classes in Downtown Singapore.
​Click here for more details.