Forget Vegemite on toast – this is how to start the day right

The dish

Nasi Lemak, Malaysia

Breakfast of champions … Nasi lemak, Malaysian coconut milk rice, served with egg, sambal, fried crispy anchovies, toasted peanuts and cucumber.Credit: iStock

Plate up

What are you having for breakfast today? Bacon and eggs? Toast and Vegemite? A bowl of cereal? All decent options. But then, check out what they’re having in Malaysia: nasi lemak. Now this is how you start your day right.

Nasi lemak translates to “rich rice” and, at its most basic, that’s what it is, just rice cooked with coconut cream and pandan leaves. And that would be enough for a hearty breakfast. But then you add the classic condiments: small, dried anchovies called ikin bilis; crunchy roasted peanuts; slices of cooling cucumber; a boiled egg, peeled and split in half; and sambal, a fiercely spicy and highly addictive chilli-based sauce. And you’re still not done because a classic nasi lemak will often be served with yet another hearty dish, sometimes beef rendang, or fried chicken, or chicken curry, or even squid with chilli. Now, how’s that toast and Vegemite looking?

First serve

There’s a temptation to see classic dishes such as this as deeply historic, but with nasi lemak that’s not really the case: this only became a popular breakfast staple in Malaysia in the 1970s.

Indeed, the first written reference to the dish was in 1909, when British colonial administrator Sir Richard Olaf Winstedt mentioned it in his book The Circumstances of Malay Life. Back then nasi lemak was reserved for celebrations, though by the end of World War II, rice cooked with coconut cream was being consumed as a filling starter to the day, paired with fried fish and water spinach, with the other condiments gradually added over time.

Order there

There’s no shortage of nasi lemak vendors in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. You can’t go wrong, however, with Nasi Lemak Tanglin (instagram.com/nasilemaktanglin1948), which has been around since 1948.

Order here

In Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, Mamak does an excellent nasi lemak, and try the roti too.

Cook it

Read Good Food’s recipe for nasi lemak here.

One more thing

There’s little doubt, of course, that the history of nasi lemak stretches back further than the time it was first noticed by colonial powers. Malaysia is a country where both rice and coconuts are abundant – some say they were combined as early as the 15th century.