A typical Malay dish, nasi kerabu is exotic blue rice with fried fish and vegetables, accompanied by sambal coconut.
Ingredients
- 3 medium-size kembung or mabung fish
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
SAUCE INGREDIENTS
- 10 shallots
- 4 cloves garlic
- 15 g ginger
- 2 tbsps chilli paste
- 100 ml water
- 2 tamarind slices
- 2 stalks lemongrass, crushed
- 200 g box coconut milk or thick fresh
- coconut milk
- 2 tbsps budu sauce
- 2 tbsps sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
SAMBAL COCONUT
- 1 grated coconut, pan fry till light brown
- 2 kembung fish, steam and flake out fish meat
- 8 shallots, sliced
- 3 stalks lemon grass, sliced thinly
- Sugar and salt to taste
BLUE RICE
- 10 fresh butterfly pea flowers (bunga telang)
- 125 ml hot water
- 300 g rice
- 350 ml water
- 3 kaffir lime leaves
- 2 stalks lemon grass, crushed
- 1 tbsp salt
KERABU VEGETABLE MIX (GENTLY TOSS TOGETHER)
- 2 long beans, cut 0.5 cm-long pieces
- ¼ cabbage, shredded
- ½ cucumber, shredded
- 1 ginger flower, sliced finely
- 1 onion, sliced thinly
- 4 four-angled beans, sliced thinly
- 50 g bean sprouts
Steps
To make sauce, blend shallots, garlic and ginger into a paste. In a pot, heat 3 tbsps oil. When hot, fry chilli paste for 30 secs, add in blended paste and fry mixture for another 3 mins.
Add in 100 ml water, tamarind slices and crushed lemongrass. Cook for 2 mins over medium heat.
Add in coconut milk and season with budu and sugar, stirring continuously until oil starts to separate.
To make sambal coconut, combine coconut, fish, shallots and lemongrass. Season with sugar and salt to taste.
To make rice, infuse bunga telang with hot water for 10 mins. Strain liquid and set aside. Put rice, water, bunga telang liquid, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and salt in a rice cooker and cook as normal.
Marinate fish with salt and ground turmeric. Deep fry it in oil until lightly golden in colour. Set aside.
To serve, place cooked rice with fried fish, sauce, kerabu vegetable mix, and sambal coconut on the side.
Photo: Eric Tay