Nasi lemak is no stranger to Malaysians, but seeing it being cooked properly by someone overseas? That hits differently.
Malaysia’s iconic dish recently caught attention online after a well-known Indian cooking YouTube channel, Dad’s Cooking Show, featured nasi lemak in one of its latest videos.
Cooked the traditional way
What impressed many was the effort put into preparing the dish from scratch using a traditional kampung-style method over a wood fire.
Instead of simply cooking coconut rice, the creator also made sambal tumis from scratch by grinding chillies using a stone grinder.
The full nasi lemak set came complete with fried anchovies, peanuts, egg, cucumber, and even fried chicken on the side basically the kind of plate that would make many Malaysians nod in approval.
M’sians gave it their ‘approval’
As the video made its rounds online, Malaysian netizens were quick to fill the comment section with praise.
Many said they were touched to see the national dish being prepared with so much care, especially without changing its original identity.
Some even joked that the nasi lemak looked more complete and “premium” than what they usually get from some stalls in Malaysia.
One netizen commented that the nasi lemak was more complete compared to some sold in Malaysia, where sometimes the egg is missing, only peanuts are given, or there is barely any anchovy in sight.
They also joked that some vendors are stingy with coconut milk, making the rice taste more like plain white rice instead of proper nasi lemak.
Another Malaysian proudly said the ingredients used were of good quality and that, as a Malaysian, they “approved” the nasi lemak.
Others also praised the effort, saying the dish looked complete and that local vendors should take notes if they wanted to sell nasi lemak.
Several netizens also said the dish looked delicious, while one pointed out that the colour of the rice already showed that real coconut milk was used.
