Cherry Blossoms Nasi Lemak

Nasi lemak is one of Malaysian favourite dish love by many across race and age group. Be it for breakfast,lunch,dinner or even as late night supper. You may find street stalls and restaurants serving delicious nasi lemak across the country. The mouth watering nasi lemak comes with, humble condiments like sambal (chilly paste),fried anchovies,fried peanuts,sliced cucumber and hard boiled eggs. Thruout the years, many additional side dishes added to the basic nasi lemak condiments. Fried eggs,varieties of sambal,stir fry vegetables,cockles,squid,prawns and etc.

The nasi lemak i'm sharing today, is a flavoured nasi lemak unlike the traditional version. I used cherry blosssom or Sakura powder and dried flowers for cooking my coconut milk rice. The girls love the sweet pink colur of the rice (thanks to the sakura powder). There's not much of flavor of the blossoms, in a way it's something like adding blue pea extract to the rice. Cherry blossoms are great antioxidant and anti inflammatory. It's anti aging property helps to fight wrinkles and promote a soft and supple skin. Cherry blossoms powder and dried flowers can be found in shops supplying bakinh essentials. Now there's a plenty of reasons to add cherry blossom in our baking and cooking ya 😁

Ingredients

For The Rice

2 cups rice, washed and drained
2 cups coconut milk, divided
1 cup water
1 tsp salt
2"inches ginger, sliced
2 screwpine/pandan leaves, washed & knotted
1/3 tsp cherry blossom powder
3 pcs dried cherry blossoms

For The Sambal

12-15 dried chilly, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes
3 shallots
1 yellow onion,sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp belacan/dried shrimp paste
1 tsp tamarind paste dilute with 1 tbsp water
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp palm sugar

Other Condiments

Fried anchovies
Hard boiled eggs/fried eggs
Fried peanuts
Sliced cucumbers

Methods

For The Rice

In a rice cooker, add rice,salt,sliced ginger,pandan leaves,coconut milk,water, dried cherry blossoms and cherry blossoms powder. Stir to combine and cook the rice till done.

For The Sambal

In a blender, grind together soaked dry chilly,belacan,shallots and garlic till fine.

Heat oil in a pan and saute sliced yellow onion till translucent,add bruised lemon grass and cook for another 30 seconds.

Add the ground chilly paste mixture and cook till oil started to separate and the raw smell leaves.

Add the tamarind water and season with salt and palm sugar. Stir well to combine.

Reduce heat to medium low and simmer till the mixture thickened.

For Peanuts

Add oil in a frying pan and fry peanuts for 2-3 minutes by stirring continiuosly to prevent the nuts from burning. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen towel to drain excess oil.

For Anchovies

Washed and drain the anchovies and fry till crispy by continiously stirring. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen towel.

For Hard Boil Eggs

In a pot, add water and boil eggs for 8-10 minutes. Drain water and peel of the shell.

For Frying Eggs

In a frying pan, add oil and fried egg till done. Transfer to a plate