Day 1 of Phase 2 Heightened Alert, today's dabao (home delivery) is nasi lemak by Pangkor Satay Fish, a home based business. Cooked by Christine Lock who hails from Malaysia's Pangkor Island (Perak state), her nasi lemak has the hometown flavours and aroma different to what we are used to in Singapore.
We had three types of nasi lemak - prawn, ikan bilis fish, and hardtail mackerel fish.
This is the prawn nasi lemak. It came wrapped in a cone with brown paper and a small piece of banana leaf underneath. The nasi lemak looked a bit squashed from the delivery process and arrived already at room temperature.
The ikan bilis fish (dried anchovy) nasi lemak.
Pangkor Satay Fish's nasi lemak does not come with egg or cucumber.
I tasted the nasi lemak both at room temperature and also after reheating by steaming. It tasted much better after reheating.
The rice was moist and soft. It was sweetish but coconut flavour was very slight.
There's also underlying ikan bilis or prawn flavour depending on which sambal. I like both sambal.
The prawn and ikan bilis nasi lemak were nice but my favourite was the mackerel one. But, I have to admit that it is an acquired taste as mackerel is rather different from our familiar ikan kuning or ikan selar.
When I first tasted hardtail mackerel (ikan cencaru) nasi lemak in a Kelantanese stall in Johor Bahru, I didn't quite appreciate it - the fish meat was stiff, fibrous and quite chewy. There was also a signature mackerel taste, in the same way as salmon has its peculiar taste which you either love or you loathe.
Then, I had the same in Kelantan and Trengganu, and slowly learnt to enjoy the taste. So, stuck back in Singapore, it became one of the Malaysian local flavours I missed.
I am glad that I am reunited again with this mackerel nasi lemak thanks to Pangkor Satay Fish.
This is a slightly different nasi lemak but worth a try 😋 Our palates can still go on an adventure while we keep ourselves safe and secure indoors.
Pangkor Satay Fish Nasi Lemak. To order ☏ Christine 8297 8813
Let us know how you find the taste of this Malaysian nasi lemak 🙏
Written by Tony Boey on 16 May 2021 | Day 1 of Singapore Phase 2 Heightened Alert to curb Covid-19 spread.