"The" Malaysian Breakfast Part I

When I was studying in Australia 5 years ago, I remembered drinking lots of milk that goes well with cereals or drink them neat from the bottle. As a budget student, breakfast has always been either instant noodles with eggs or milk with cereal or toast with butter or jam... nothing like the true blue Aussie breakfast of a hearty meal of bacon with scramble eggs, toasted bread and jam.

Malaysians generally have a habit of eating a lot for breakfast that could even be a portion equally as large as their lunch. This simply explains why nasi lemak is the 1 Malaysian (inclusive of Indian and Chinese other than Malays) staple breakfast. Nasi means rice and lemak means fat and oily. If you are a tourist visiting Malaysia (truly Asia?), you have not tasted Malaysia if you havent sink your mouth into this delicacy.

There are a few mandatory standards for an authentic Nasi Lemak:

1. Oily rice- Has to be cooked with Coconut Milk ;
2. Peanut and Anchovies - A lot of them ;
3. Two Slices of Cucumber ;
4. Topped with red spicy gravy cooked with chicken and onions- a.k.a. Sambal ;
5. One piece of fried egg ;
6. Served on a banana leave ;
7. Strictly NO chicken or any other meat dish ;
8. Cheap and affordable for the masses

Nowwithstanding the standards, here is a typical up-to-standard Nasi Lemak for your viewing pleasure

...usually served wrapped up into a pyramid shape...pictured here with Iced Coffee or Kopi Ais...

 ....when you unwrap it...

 ...take a closer look at it...

This is it, oily rice, peanuts, anchovies, sambal, cucumber, sambal and egg served on a banana leave, no chicken or other meat and cheap and affordable (costs RM 1.50)!

*edited* Strictly no meat coz the gravy from a rendang beef or curry chicken or a ayam masak merah or any sort of meat dish would severely overshadow the authentic flavour of the Sambal designated specifically for nasi lemak.

Here is where I bought it this morning...

This establishment is located at the side of a busy highway and with only an umbrella, she operated from as early as 6.15 am in the morning. This is one of the hardworking success story of a true Malaysian.

I really hope that the authorities will not raid her stall as she is really a small but significant contributor to the national productivity of Malaysian workers (including nurses evidenced in the picture), and she is a nice lady as well (didnt overcharge me). I wish her the best in her entrepreneurship.

...here's a close up picture of the Iced Coffee, locally roasted and freshly brewed... retails at RM 1.50, has hint of charcoal and bitterness...

This refreshing breverage goes really well with the nasi lemak...

Now tell me, do Americans really drink coke for breakfast? :s