Nasi Kerabu - with Ayam Percik & Stuffed Green Chillies!
a labour of love but worth EVERY single step!
there’s something about Peninsular Malaysia’s Northeast Coast which makes it so special as a culinary destination. a well-loved & celebrated dish of the region is Nasi Kerabu, a hearty dish of rice with a ‘kerabu’ or salad of foraged herbs, served with a choice of barbecued meat, sambal kelapa (coconut-fish floss), budu (local fish sauce) and oftentimes with stuffed green chilli and a sambal for added piquancy.
Nasi Kerabu is MORE than just a dish but a tapestry of different individual characters coming together to form a cohesive rice plate of contrasting flavours, textures and colours. while Nasi Kerabu originally uses a choice of white rice other than turmeric rice, the modern (& most popular) variation uses blue pea rice, where the natural blue tint contributes to the attractiveness of the dish, making the dish one of the most sought after foods at Malaysia’s food markets.
while the processes of making EACH component can be laborious & time-consuming, the result is satisfying & is really something to behold, especially eaten with fingers! try making this at home for gatherings!
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Nasi Kerabu
(serves 4-6)
blue pea rice:
3 cups jasmine rice, rinsed until water runs clear
12-20 blue pea flowers (fresh or dried) + 1/4 cup boiling water
3 cups water
kerabu (salad):
5 winged beans, sliced thin
1/2 beijing cabbage, shredded
2 torch ginger flower, thinly sliced
1 bunch laksa leaves, picked and sliced
3 long beans, sliced to 1/2 inch pieces
ayam percik (Kelantanese grilled chicken):
4-6 whole chicken legs, bone-in
1/2 cup oil
1 tbsp coriander powder
2 tsp fennel powder
2 cups water
3 cups fresh coconut milk
rempah paste
3 medium-sized red onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled
20g ginger, peeled
15g turmeric root, peeled
2 stick lemongrass, sliced
12 dried chillies, soaked in hot water to soften
sambal kelapa (coconut-fish floss) & solok lada (stuffed chilli):
300g batang fish steak/fillet (OR you can use other oily fish such as tuna or Indian mackerel (kembong)
3 tbsp oil + 2 tbsp oil
500g fresh grated coconut
4 shallots, peeled
2 lemongrass, sliced
salt and black pepper, to taste
6 large green chillies (we use bhajji chillies which is less spicy and are bigger for stuffing)
water, for steaming
other accompaniments:
2-3 salted duck egg, steamed & halved
servings of fish crackers
1 cup sambal belachan
4 tbsp budu (Kelantanese fermented fish sauce), optional
directions
soak blue pea flowers in hot boiling water for at least 15 minutes to extract colour. strain out the flowers and pour the blue extract onto rice in a pot. add water, mix well & cook rice until done.
making ayam percik (coconut grilled chicken)
blend all the rempah paste ingredients until smooth. in a pot on medium heat, add oil. once it’s hot, add the rempah and sauté until fragrant and the oil starts to separate, for about 15 minutes. mix in the coriander and fennel powders.
add in the chicken and stir well to coat the chicken evenly. add water, cover the pot, lower the heat and let simmer for 20-25 minutes to cook the chicken. then, stir in the coconut milk and simmer, uncovered until the sauce becomes thick. season with salt and black pepper.
let the chicken stew cool down to room temperature or let the chicken keep marinating up to overnight. then, remove the chicken from the sauce and grill the chicken on a grill pan until bots sides of the legs are charred. better yet, barbecue the chickens on charcoal for the best smokey flavour. set the chicken and the sauce aside separately.
preparing sambal kelapa (coconut-fish floss) + solok lada
in a hot pan, heat 3 tbsp oil and fry the batang fish steak on both sides until fully cooked through. use your hands to remove all the bones and flake the fish into smaller pieces. set aside.
in the same pan on medium heat, add the grated coconut and toast until the evenly golden brown. this will take quite some time & constant stirring to make sure the coconut doesn't burn. set aside,
in a food processor or using a pestle and mortar, blend/pound the lemongrass and shallots until smooth. add the flaked fish, toasted coconut, salt and pepper and blend/pound it further until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
in the same pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil and sauté the mixture until fragrant. keep stirring until the mixture dries up into a dried floss.
to make solok lada, make an incision on one side of the green chilli, without breaking it. remove the white pith & seeds and best as you can.
using a teaspoon, stuff the coconut-fish floss into the cavity until packed. reserve the rest of the floss aside for garnish.
steam the chillies in a steamer with boiling water, for 10 minutes. set aside.
putting Nasi Kerabu together
in a bowl toss all the herbs (ulam) for the ‘kerabu’ together like a salad.
on the plate, scoop on the blue pea rice, arrange the grilled chicken leg & drizzle the percik sauce all over. spoon over the ‘kerabu’. add a piece of stuffed chilli, some fish crackers, sambal belachan and a half a salted duck egg. drizzle on 2 teaspoons of budu (fermented fish sauce) onto the rice (optional).
the best way to savour this is with your finger, tossing all the condiments nicely together!
if you’re looking to try cooking other traditional Malay dishes, check these out!:
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