When I shared it on social media, I found out many people didn’t even know what “Nasi” meant, let alone the difference between the two dishes.

So here’s my non-comprehensive rundown on common types of Nasi (not Nazi) dishes to help you along on your food journey. Or, in the case of cooking shows, to bolster your claim to Malaysian culinary expertise beyond the basis that your host “travels frequently to Malaysia”.

First up, here’s a quick Malay/Indonesian lesson – 

Nasi = Rice

Lemak = literally, “fatty”, “rich & creamy” etc. “Nasi Lemak” as a term is almost always used to mean the famous Malaysian dish made up of rice cooked with coconut milk and served with fried anchovies, sambal, cucumber, egg etc. Here’s a shot of my nasi lemak as served in my Concord restaurant back in the day –

Goreng = Fried

Ayam = Chicken

Kuning = Yellow

Campur = Mix

Therefore – 

Nasi + Goreng = Fried Rice 

Nasi + Ayam = Chicken Rice 

Nasi + Kuning = Yellow Rice (ie. turmeric rice)

Also –

Ayam + Goreng = Fried Chicken

So, that’s the easy part. Next up, the slightly more involved variations.

By way of preamble, I remember learning about the “meat & 3 veg” meal template when I first arrived in Australia. That’s basically, say, a steak or a lamb roast served with 3 types of vegetables, eg. potatoes, coleslaw, salad, etc.

In Malaysia, we sort of have the same thing, but with rice as the centrepiece, plus 3 dishes. In our Chinese-Malaysian household we might have a vegetable, a meat, and a soup to go with our jasmine rice.

So here’s the breakdown of the kinds of “Nasi” you might come across next time you eat out in Malaysia or Indonesia – 

Nasi Campur 

Nasi Campur is the Malay/Indonesian version of the “rice+” meal. Literally, it means “mixed rice”, and the idea is that the rice is served with a mixed assortment of dishes. 

I specify Malay/Indonesian because if you went to a Chinese street buffet (in Malaysia and some neighbouring countries), it’d be called “Economy (or Economic) Rice”. 

BTW both “nasi campur” and “economy rice” are labels used when eating out; we don’t say mom’s cooking economy rice or nasi campur for dinner tonight (well, I don’t anyway) – we’d say mom’s cooking curry or steamed fish for dinner etc. 

More rarely, you might see “Nasi Berlauk” – “lauk” just means “dish” (ergo, rice + dishes) so it’s the same thing as Nasi Campur (mixed rice). 

I don’t know if I’ve ever had “Economy Rice” since they’re Chinese-style dishes and pork seems to feature prominently in the spread (I don’t eat pork).

I came across 2 rice+ buffets operating side by side in the same building in Penang on my last trip there. One was Malay, the other was Chinese.

The Malay place called their food “Nasi Melayu” – lit. Malay rice – but it’s Nasi Campur. I’m guessing they called it Nasi Melayu at least in part to distinguish themselves from their Chinese counterpart.

Nasi Lemak

As mentioned, Nasi Lemak as a dish refers to rice cooked in coconut milk, and served with sambal, fried anchovies, egg and cucumber. However, it’s also optionally served with other “lauk” like rendang, fried chicken, vegetables and the like, that make the Nasi Lemak at first glance indistinguishable to Nasi Campur once they’re piled onto your plate.

How then, do you tell Nasi Lemak and Nasi Campur apart? Well, Nasi Lemak ALWAYS comes with coconut rice, egg, dried anchovies, sambal, and (usually), peanuts.

Here are some different Nasi Lemaks by yours truly –

And here are more examples from other places –

Nasi Goreng 

That’s just literally “fried rice”, albeit cooked Malay/Indonesian-style, which means it’s usually got a bit more oomph to it through the addition of chilli, dark (thick) soya sauce or sweet soya sauce, etc. in comparison to the uber subtle Chinese fried rice you might be more familiar with. 

Also, nasi goreng is culturally Malay (and Indonesian), which is synonymous with Muslim. 

When Good Chef/Bad Chef finally corrected their recipe online from “Nasi Lemak” to “Nasi Goreng”, many Malaysians remained irked because nobody in their right mind would use bacon in their nasi goreng without any caveat or clarification about their non-halal iteration.

Nasi Lemak Goreng

This is a fad that I’ve seen emerge more recently, where the coconut rice and sambal are tossed in a wok and fried up. Hence, “fried nasi lemak”. The novelty factor is the main drawcard and it’s not widely available, though Sydney-Malaysian caterer Rita Enar does a fabulous version. The rice is coconut-y but spicy, and it’s served with more sambal plus the other typical Nasi Lemak accompaniments – 

I’ve rambled enough in this piece so far, so I’m going to continue with the other types of “Nasi” in my next installment. 

The post Nasi Lemak-Udek-Campur-Kandar-Tumpang-Tumpeng – Part 1 first appeared on Jackie M..

I’m glad things are starting to change, because now that I no longer own a Malaysian restaurant, I do crave Malaysian food (as opposed to the old days when I actively avoided it when eating out). One restaurant that is fast becoming a favourite among Malaysian food lovers is Papparich, with their latest outlet now open on Liverpool Street in Sydney’s CBD.

Because I’m kind of a big deal (I’m kidding), I was invited to experience some of its offerings over the weekend, so I dragged my kids Noah and Becky, plus Becky’s husband Micko, along. Here are some pics of what we ordered –

Becky had the Milo Dinosaur towards the back, while I went for Teh Tarik (pulled tea) –

I don’t remember the name of this drink which had lychees in it, but my Micko said it was delicious – 

Pappa Deep-Fried Chicken Skin – compulsory guilty pleasure –

I know this as kangkung belacan, but on the menu it’s called Sambal Spinach, probably because they got tired of explaining what “kangkung” and “belacan” mean (I feel their pain) –

Dry Curry Egg Noodles with Curry Chicken. Pro tip – “dry” means as opposed to “in soup” ie. noodles tossed with sauce vs noodles in a bowl of clear broth. You always need to specify when ordering these types of noodles in Malaysia or risk not getting what you asked for, so Papparich has made it easy for you here.

Roti Canai in the foreground, and Nasi Lemak back right. Funnily enough my 4-year old could handle the chilli sambal in the Nasi Lemak better than my 24-year old.

Pappa Wat Tan Hor, ie. fresh rice noodles with silky egg sauce, a Becky dining-out staple.

Apart from all this, we also had Ipoh Koay Teow Soup (aka Ipoh Sar Hor Fun) – Noah’s favourite along with the Nasi Lemak – and also a bowl of Tau Foo Fa (Beancurd with Sugar Syrup) for yours truly.

If you think that sounds like a lot of food, it was – we ended up with 4 boxes of leftovers along with a grab bag of the remaining chicken skin.

Next time, I’m going to try the Biryani Rice and the Satays and the Curry Laksa…plus that drink Micko had, whatever it was.

PAPPARICH SYDNEY CBD

Address: 57 Liverpool street, Sydney NSW, 2000

Phone: (02) 9261 2282

Email: pprsyd@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pprsydneycbd/

Trading Hours

• Monday: 11am – 10pm
• Tuesday: 11am – 10pm
• Wednesday: 11am – 10pm
• Thursday: 11am – 10pm
• Friday: 11am – 10pm
• Saturday: 11am – 10pm
• Sunday: 11am – 10pm

The post Papparich Sydney CBD first appeared on Jackie M..