Nasi lemak is undoubtedly an iconic dish that needs no introduction whenever it’s brought up as locals and tourists alike will recognise it as a Malaysian product.
Recently, this humble rice dish got an epic shout-out by the US’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where it even came up with an unusual name for it, which garnered much attention online.
CIA calls nasi lemak as ‘fat rice’
In a Facebook post shared by the CIA last Friday (Apr 19), it posted two photos: one featuring a plate of nasi lemak and the regarding some fun facts about the dish.
According to the CIA’s definition, nasi lemak is “considered the national dish of Malaysia and is a popular Malay breakfast food’.
It also added that in Malay, nasi lemak literally means ‘fat rice’ as the preparation process makes the dish “rich and creamy”.
“It consists of fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk with pandan leaves, lemon grass, ginger, and other spices.
“Nasi lemak is usually served with a hard-boiled egg, fried anchovies, sambal paste, and roasted peanuts,” the post wrote.
‘Thanks for featuring Malaysia!’
Naturally, Malaysians were quick to leave their thoughts on the CIA’s feature about nasi lemak, with some thanking the government agency for its initiative, including the Department of Agriculture.
One joked that the CIA shouldn’t let its agents eat nasi lemak before going on a mission as it would make them “sleepy” and “miss their target”. Instead, she suggested that they eat crackers with coffee to stay awake.
Another poked fun by saying that the CIA had unwittingly opened a Pandora’s Box of comments trying to ‘claim’ nasi lemak as their own.
Nonetheless, we’re super happy to see nasi lemak getting the international recognition it deserves!
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