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Epicurious
Bon Appétit

Nasi Lemak

By Kopitiam, NYC

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Cucumber slices topped with jasmine rice and fried anchovies dressed in a sweetspicy sambal.
Nasi Lemak

It’s way too easy to fall in love with the Malaysian dish Nasi Lemak, a coconutty rice bowl topped with crispy-crunchy crumbles of teeny little fried anchovies dressed in a sweet-spicy sambal. Look for the smallest dried anchovies (ikan bilis) you can find: They’re known for their superior flavor and texture. We’ve provided a few options for dried chiles below, but any thumb-size red chile you can find at an Asian market will get the job done.  

 

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Ingredient info

Paper lantern chiles can be found at Asian markets and themalamarket.com. Tamarind concentrate, often labeled “concentrate cooking tamarind,” can be found at Asian and Thai markets.

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