Village voices

Recipe | Nasi Ulam (Herbed Rice)

Ingredients (serves four):

3 cups basmati rice

1 packet santan (coconut powder)

3 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

3 stalks pandan leaves, forked through and knotted

20 basil leaves, stalks removed

20 Vietnamese mint leaves, stalks removed

20 mint leaves, stalks removed

100 g quality, boneless dried salted fish

100 g dried prawns

3 or 4 bird's eye chili, chopped

Method:

1. Wash and drain basmati rice. Place in rice cooker and add water and coconut powder. Stir well to mix through and add the teaspoon of salt. Top with the knotted pandan leaves. It helps to release the fragrance better if you run the tines of a fork down the length of the leaves before tying them up.

2. Prepare rice as usual. Remove the pandan leaves after the rice is cooked and fluff up with chopsticks or a fork. Keep warm.

3. Wipe salted fish with a damp cloth to clean and remove excess salt. Cut into tiny slivers and shallow fry in a little oil until fragrant and crisp. Drain and cool.

4. Pick through the dried prawns to remove any impurities. Do not wash. Dry roast the prawns in a heated wok until crisp and fragrant. Cool.

5. Slice basil leaves along length of leaf to get long thin shreds. Do the same for the Vietnamese mint leaves. Chop the mint leaves as finely as you can.

6. Place a bowl of coconut rice on a banana leaf or large platter. Surround the rice with the sliced herbs. Top with the salted fish and dried prawns. Garnish with a light sprinkle of chopped chili. To eat, just mix up the herbs and rice. Serve with turmeric fried chicken or fish.

Food Note:

Pandan leaves are fragrant screwpine leaves that impart a particular fragrance to the rice. The original selection of herbs we would have used are basil leaves, Vietnamese mint, mint, pennywort, turmeric leaves, lesser galangal leaves and the buds of the torch ginger.