Nasi Lemak Bungkus Nenek Limah

My grandmother used to sell this to supplement the family income. Humble, satisfying, and portable—wrapped in banana leaves, eaten at dawn or packed for school.

Ingredients:

• Coconut rice:

  • 2 cups jasmine rice

  • 1½ cups coconut milk + 1½ cups water

  • 1 pandan leaf, knotted

  • ½ tsp salt

  
  

• Sambal ikan bilis:

  • ½ cup anchovies, rinsed

  • 1 onion, sliced

  • 2 tbsp sambal (reuse leftover sambal from sambal udang)

  
  

• Fried fish:

  • 4 small ikan kuning (yellowstripe scad), cleaned

  • Salt and turmeric powder

  • Oil to shallow fry

  
  

  • Sides:

    • Sliced cucumber

    • Hard-boiled egg, halved

    • Roasted peanuts

Instructions:

1. Cook rice with coconut milk, pandan, and salt until fluffy and fragrant.

2. Fry anchovies until crisp, set aside. In the same pan, sauté onion, add sambal and stir in half the fried anchovies.

3. Rub ikan kuning with salt and turmeric. Shallow fry till golden.

4. To assemble: lay banana leaf, scoop rice in the center, add sambal, a piece of fish, half an egg, a few cucumber slices, peanuts, and remaining fried anchovies. Wrap and fold into a neat bungkus.

5. Best enjoyed warm with kopi-o or teh halia.