How to cook Nasi Lemak with chicken wings, fried eggs and sambal chilli from scratch in one hour (Thermomix recipe)

Nasi Lemak means fragrant rice and it is rice cooked with rich coconut milk and infused with a bunch of pandan leaves that cooks together with the rice. Nasi Lemak is usually eaten with a condiment of fried or hard-boiled egg, chicken wings, sliced cucumber, crispy peanuts and ikan billis (tiny fish) and most importantly the sambal chilli. A good chilli make or break the Nasi Lemak - although some may argue the rice is more important. For our household, the chilli is king - screw up the chilli - the Nasi Lemak experience will be "destroyed". 

To cook it entirely with the Thermomix, will require super level multi-tasking (everything cooking at the same time 😄... However, to manage this one-hour challenge - if you plan in advance, nothing is impossible.  I am a time-starved mum who has to juggle like all working mums, a job, kids and household chores like cooking, grocery shopping et cetera.

There are quite a few steps (not difficult, just require some organising and planning), please read through the recipe first before cooking.

Ingredients (feeds seven)

Rice

• 2.5 cup rice
• Big bunch of fresh pandan leaves
• 2 shallots
• 200ml coconut milk
• Water (adjust accordingly to coconut milk ratio)

Chilli

• 4 garlic
• 5 shallot
• 1 red onion in sliced into rings
• 15 dried chillies
• 10 fresh large red chillies
• 15 fresh chilli padies 
• 2 TBSP fried ikan billis
• 1 large onion (cut into quarters)
• 1 TBSP Assam/Tamarind juice (mix handful of tamarind into 1/2 cup water - remove seeds)
• 1 tsp Belacan/Prawn paste
• Salt
• Sugar

Chicken Wing (Prawn paste type) 10 pieces

• 3 tbsp prawn/shrimp paste
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3 tsp sesame oil
• ginger juice
• 2 tsp shaoxing wine
• Corn starch (1-2 tsp)

Chicken Wing (Tumeric + Curry) 10 pieces

• Tumeric powder (2 tsp)
• Curry powder (1 tsp)
• Corn starch (1-2 tsp)

Condiments

• 1/2 - 1 cup cleaned & toasted/air-fried ikan billis/dried anchovies (for chilli)
• 1/2 cup cleaned & toasted/air-fried ikan billis (and peanuts) set aside as condiments 
• Fried eggs or hard-boiled eggs
• Cucumber

I marinated the chicken wings before hand in the morning before I headed out of the house so that the flavours are fully absorbed and the wings are ready for air frying within the hour-long preparation.  All the below to be cooked concurrently. Having my Zojirushi Rice Cooker (excellent for cooking more than plain rice), Philips Air Fryer and Thermomix help immensely of course.

Directions (Coconut rice)

• 2.5 cup rice or any quantity needed
• Pour in coconut milk (as thick or thin as you like depends on quantity of coconut milk vs water) and add water until the usual marking on your rice cooker for the amount of rice
• Tie the pandan leaves and throw them in to cook with the rice (if you like the rice to have a nice green hue, you can squeeze some pandan juice and mix with the coconut milk & water mixture)
• Salt to taste
• Cook per normal (before you start air frying the chicken) 
• If you use the Thermomix, put your rice in the simmering basket and water should be just above the rice. Place all other ingredients on the rice.

Directions (Chicken Wings)

• 20 wings and/or drummettes
• Mix in your choice of chicken seasoning 
• Marinate for at least half a day or overnight
• Before air fryer, sprinkle coat the chicken with corn flour evenly (shake off excess so that the chicken do not taste "floury" later) 
• Preheat the air fryer to 180 degree
• Brush or spray cooking oil on the chicken as evenly as possible
• Lay the chicken pieces on the frying tray and air fry each side at 160 degree until brown and crispy
• Drain excess oil on paper towel before serving

Directions (Sambal Chilli using the Thermomix)

• Remove the garlic skin (5 sec, speed 5, reverse)
• Chop the garlic and shallots (5 sec, speed 5)
• Saute the garlic, shallots in 1 tbsp cooking oil (4min, varoma, speed 1)
• Add dried and fresh chillies and 1-1.5 tsp belacan (120 degree, speed 5, 5min) 
• Add tamarind juice (cook at 100 degree, speed 2, 5 min)
• Blend at (speed 7, 1 min) to get a smoother mixture (optional)
• Add onion slices, toasted ikan billies, 1/2 - 1 tsp salt, 1-2 tbsp sugar (continue to cook at 100 degree, speed stir or 1, 10min)
• Adjust salt and sugar according to preference
• Cook until the water reduces into paste 
• Switch to Varoma temperature for speedier reduction to paste, stop immediately when the gravy thickens to paste (to avoid burning)

Others (for garnishing to serve)

• Fried eggs or hard boiled eggs (whole eggs can be "hard-boiled" via steaming the same time you cook your nasi (rice) in the thermomix)
• Sliced cucumbers
• 1/2 cup air fried ikan billis & peanuts

Scoop the rice on plates.  Plate the chicken, fried egg/boiled egg slices, chilli on cucumber slices, fried ikan billis (and peanuts) to serve.   

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