Nasi Lemak Set Meal with Ginger Tea

This recipe serves for 10 servings however the egg and cucumber have been scaled to 1 serving for presentation of food for one person.

Ingredients for rice:

2. 4 dash of table salt

3. 550 mL water

4. 1 packet coconut milk

5. 3-4 Screw pine leaves tied in a knot.

Method:

1. Wash the rice 3 times till water being poured is clear and not white or cloudy.

2. Place the rice in a rice cooker’s pot.

3. Pour in the water and subsequently add the coconut milk.

4. Add salt and stir all ingredients,

5. Make a knot out of the screw pine leaves (pandan leaves) and place it in the rice.

6. Put the pot in the rice cooker and cook.

Observation during cooking :

What happens during cooking of rice ?

• Hydrogen bonds within the starch molecules will break.
• The water will then move into the centre of the granule and be bounded there.
• More water will aggregate and move in causing the granue to get larger.
• Some of the amylose will leave the starch molecule.
• Density within the starch granule will be reduced and thus an increase in transluency would be noticed.

Ingredients for the sambal:
1. 2 medium sized onions
2. 5-6 cloves garlic
3. 1 medium sized tomato
4. 30 pieces dried chilli (with seeds removed)
5. 2 teaspoon sugar
6. 2 teaspoon salt
7. 7-9 seeds of tamarind
8. 2 tbsps cooking oil

 

 

Preparation method for sambal:

Onion and garlic paste

-Chop the onions into 4 each and garlic into 2 and place in blender with 1/2 bowl water.
 -Blend till smooth.

    

Tomato paste

     - Chop the tomatoes into 4 and place in blender with 1/4 bowl water.

     - Blend till smooth

   

Tamarind Extract
-Add hot water sufficient to cover the tamarind seeds.

- Use a fork and stir the mixture .

- Sieve the mixture to remove the seeds.

Chilli

- Remove the seeds

- Place in a pot and add 2 cups of water.

- Allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

-Remove from heat source and drain the water.

-Blend the chillies with 3 tablespoons of water.

Method:

 1. Heat the oil in a saucepan

 

2. Once it starts to sizzle, pour in the onion and garlic paste and fry for 5 minutes.   

3. Pour in the chilli paste,stir and continue frying for 25-30 minutes stirring once in a while.

4. Stir in the tomato paste and continue frying for 10 minutes.

5. Add the sugar and stir.

6. Add the salt and stir.

7. Serve with the rice and a hard boiled egg.

What happens during cooking of sambal ?

• The onions contribute to the aroma of the sambal and serve as the base of the sambal.
• The chillis contribute to the spicy sambal flavour.
• Tomatoes contain lycopene and antioxidants. They not only contibute in this manner. They are acidic and act as a preservative when storing the sambal.
• Sugar is characterised by its sweet flavour thus it acts as a flavouring and provides a smooth mouthfeel. They are hygroscopic thus they will absorb water from the atmosphere thus, the sambal will have to be kept in a sealed air-tight container.
• Salt(sodium chloride) acts as a basic taste modifier and flavour enhancer in the sambal.

Ingredients for egg

1. 1 whole hen egg
2. 1 cup water

Method:

1. Add water in a pot and boil.
2. 
   
   Place the egg in the pot and cook. 

3. Remove from heat source after 15 minutes.

4. Remove the shell and slice into half.

What happens during cooking of egg?

• Egg white coagulates, or solidifies, when it reaches temperatures between 62.2 °C-65 °C.Egg yolk coagulates at (65 °C-70 °C).
• Egg whites begin to thicken and become a tender solid .
• The yolk protein will start to thicken  Eggs overcooked get rubbery as proteins continue to coagulate and water gets pushed out from between protein molecules.
• For the egg boiled to be used in the sambal, it did not have a grrenish ring which appears around egg yolk when overcooked.It is  a manifestation of the iron and sulfur compounds in the egg.
• It can also occur when there is an abundance of iron in the cooking water. The green ring does not affect the egg's taste; overcooking, however, harms the quality of the protein .
  
   
• *Cooking also increases the risk of atherosclerosis due to increased oxidization of the cholesterol contained in the egg yolk.

Ingredients for cucumber slice :

1. 1/2 medium cucumber

Preparation method for cucumber:

1. Remove the skin.

2. Slice the cucumber
 
This serves as the garnishing for nasi lemak and it also increases its nutritive value.

Ingredients for chilled ginger tea
 
1. 1 cup water
2. 1 inch ginger (skin removed)
3. 1 1/2 teaspoon tea leaves
4. 2 teaspoon sugar
5. 4 tablespoons of evaporated milk
6. 2-3 ice-cubes
 
  Method:
 
1. Pound the ginger .
  

 

2. Boil the water

3. Add the pounded ginger into the water .

4. Once bubbles are noticed,add the tea leaves.

5. Remove from heat source within 10 minutes,

6. Sieve the tea and discard the tea leaves and ginger .

7. Add the sugar and stir.

8. Pour in the evaporated milk and stir.

9. Serve with ice .  

What happens during tea preparation?

• 
  
  The water would absorb the flavour from the ginger .
• 
  
  The ginger will contribute to flavour and aroma.
• 
  
  The evaporated milk will provide the tea with proteins .
• 
  
  The sugar will add sweetness to the tea. It will provide a good mouthfeel.

Selamat menjamu selera

 (Please treat your appetite)

(*1/2 bowl of cooked rice used )

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Bibliography

Source:Book

The Best of Malaysian Cooking;Mrs Leong Yee Soo;Selangor Darul Ehsan;1994