Always Better With A Friend

July 14, 2020 - Nasi Lemak & Onde Onde

I have a girlfriend in So Cal who shares my passion in Malaysian food. Our visits with each other inevitably turn into cooking retreats and it's always a blast making our favorite Malaysian dishes together.  Once, we made Nasi Lemak for a picnic and most recently, we made Onde Onde, among many others. 

I can have Nasi Lemak anytime of the day - especially the simple ones wrapped in banana leaves!  I love the coconut aroma from the rice, the kick from the spicy sweet sambal sauce, the crunch from the fried peanuts and anchovies, combined with the crispy cool cucumber slices and the soft smooth bite from the hard boiled eggs - so satisfying!

For a sweet finish, nothing can be better than delicious glutinous rice balls coated with shredded coconut called Onde Onde. Pop one of these dainty balls into your mouth, bite into its soft skin and you'll be rewarded with a sweet surprise squirt of gula melaka (coconut palm sugar)!  It's so much fun to eat that it's hard to stop at just one. 

If you like pandan, coconut and gula melaka, this is a meal combo that's hard to beat.  I'll be making everything from scratch, down to the hand scraping of freshly grated coconut, the extraction of pandan juice and wrapping of each in banana leaf.  With the wonderful summer weather, there's no better way to enjoy this meal than with a friend or a loved one, al fresco style.

INGREDIENTS

Nasi Lemak

• Jasmine rice, coconut, dry and fresh chili, sugar, garlic, tamarind paste, anchovies, peanuts, cucumber, egg

Onde Onde

• Glutinous Rice, Sweet Potato, Pandan Juice, Coconut, Palm Sugar

Enjoy Nasi Lemak and Onde Onde at room temperature.  Meant for same day consumption.