This is a blog post cooking Nasi Kerabu at home. Nasi Kerabu is a Malaysian dish that has Malay origin which mainly consists of blue color rice, salted egg, fried fish/ prawn crackers, raw salad, sambal, and sometimes fried fish chicken, or fish. This combination of flavors makes an appetizing Southeast Asian dish. It is commonly sold in Malay street vendors on the east coast of Malaysia. Nowadays, this dish is commonly eaten by different ethnic communities in Malaysia.
Now that I am living abroad, I tend to make this dish myself in the UK. It is possible to buy this dish ready-made and home delivery online from vendors on Facebook groups. Most of the specific ingredients are available to buy online from special Malaysian and Singapore vendors. They are available on google search, eBay, or on Facebook groups on Malaysian food. Some of the ingredients share a similarity with other cuisines like Chinese or Thai. to make the blue rice, dried blue pea flowers are used to give its natural dark blue hue, fish crackers can be bought online, or make your own prawn crackers at home. Here is the link. The sambal ingredients one can buy from Asian grocers and so is the salad ingredients. It is possible to use locally source ingredients for the salad.
Nasi Kerabu Recipe for about 4 people
600 grams ready cook blue pea rice
2 salt-cured eggs ready to cook
200 grams Prawn of Fish crackers
300 grams raw salad consist of fresh bean sprouts, finely sliced green beans, and salad leaves
100 grams sambal ready or homemade
For fried tuna flakes
400 grams tuna in springwater
One large onion peel and dice
2 stalks lemongrass finely slice
1 tbsp cooking oil
Method
Prepare the rice, cook the rice in a rice cooker (easiest way). here is how to cook rice in a rice cooker. At the same time cook the eggs together with the rice. Fry the prawn or fish crackers in hot oil. Drain set aside. Prepare the salad wash them and slice them if necessary. It is possible to use locally sourced vegetables for salad. Of course, it will taste more authentic if using Southasian vegetables but they do cost more as they have to travel from far. Sometimes, it isn’t as fresh.
Then cook the tuna flakes. First heat up the oil and fry the onions till it’s soft. Then add the lemongrass and tuna. Fry till the water dries up or tills it’s become a flaky texture. Alternatively, just use fried chicken.
It is possible to prepare the sambal ahead of time. Here is how to make sambal from my Nasi Lemak Recipe. when ready put all the elements together like the in the picture. Enjoy.
Thank you for reading and dropping by.
