Nasi Lemak Fight Off!

This is my first post of 2014! Wishing everybody a blessed new year to begin with. Once again I'm back in Bintulu, Malaysia which is my lovely little hometown and of course, a town with good food around too! Today I would like to write about the traditional Malaysian dish which people love and can have it for breakfast, lunch or even for dinner. Guess what? It is the Malaysian Nasi Lemak! Traditionally Nasi Lemak is served with Coconut Rice, Anchovies, Peanuts, Hard Boiled Eggs, Sambal and some cucumber for garnishing. However, nowadays Nasi Lemak usually comes with various types of meat as well. The most common ones are curry or rending either chicken or beef, fried chicken and even sambal sotong (squid).

So lately I've tasted 2 different kinds of Nasi Lemak here. The Nasi Lemak Chicken Curry and the Nasi Lemak Fried Chicken. Although Nasi Lemak in my opinion always taste better in West Malaysia, the two dishes I tried here was at good standard and resemble traditional taste, especially their sambal which is the chilli paste. First let's talk about the Nasi Lemak with fried chicken.

Nasi Lemak Fried Chicken

So I tried this at Tumis Cafe, in the Park City Commercial Square area. It was a very popular spot for Nasi Lemak that is why I had always wanted to try it, but every time I get there, they were either sold out or closed. Today I did not have the intention to go there but I was just driving pass it and saw that it was open, so I decided to try my luck. So as lucky I was, here's the Nasi Lemak. The main specialty for me was the Sambal (Chilli Paste) and the Fried Chicken. So the sambal tasted different from other Nasi Lemaks that I've tried. This sambal was strong in the aroma of the spices and it was not really spicy, so this is a good news for those of you who cannot withstand spicy food but love Nasi Lemak. However for those who cannot live without chilli, you may be disappointed. Nevertheless, the aroma and taste of the sambal gave life to the whole dish. Regarding the fried chicken wing, normally when I eat fried chicken wing I find them tasteless or else just a little taste on the skin. However, the fried chicken wing here was perfectly marinated and coated with turmeric powder which really brings out the taste of traditional fried chicken. The marinate also went through the inside of the meat so even the meat tasted awesome. So fans of fried chicken, this is your place! My only complain is that the rice was not aromatic enough I guess it lacks coconut milk or they did not put much.

Nasi Lemak Chicken Curry

So now for the chicken curry Nasi Lemak, I had it at "The Chef" also at the Park City Commercial Square area. Notice the sambal here is different as well. This is more of a "drier" sambal if you want to call it that way, the taste of it is also different and it is less oily. Neither the less, it is just another kind of specialty and it is spicier than the previous one. In fact, in the menu, this dish is called Nasi Lemak Chicken Rendang, however I find the chicken is more of a curry instead of rendang, but cannot say that it is 100% curry either. It is kind of a fusion of both so it tasted special. They use drumstick for the chicken and goes really well with the curry/rendang sauce.

So now it is time to take your pick. Curry/Rendang or Fried Chicken? Leave a comment below regarding your taste!

Photography by Nokia Lumia 1020.