A major problem

J. Mokhtar tagged me in this photo

Last week, I was tagged in a photo posted by fellow blogger J. Mokhtar (you can find a link to his blog in my blog list on the right). The photo was a picture of a selection of “nasi lemak bungkus” at the breakfast buffet of the Le Meridien Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. They offered 5 options for your sambal. There is the conventional sambal ikan bilis (dried anchovies) then they also have the options of sambal udang (prawns), ikan (fish), daging (beef) or sambal sotong (squid). I can’t testify to the tastefulness of the nasi lemak as I’ve never tried the breakfast buffet at Le Meridien before and JM didn't say if he tried the the nasi lemak either.

Upon viewing this picture, my wife decided she wanted to have some nasi lemak. She made this decision while rushing back from Brussels via Roermond (another brief shopping trip). It was good that she volunteered to cook it as she hasn't cooked nasi lemak since I moved here to the Netherlands (and also because I was in a rush to catch a football game and since we were expected to arrive an hour before the game started, I was planning to park myself on the sofa until the game finished).

Here are a couple of pictures of my wife’s nasi lemak (the nicer photo was taken by my wife).

My wife's nasi lemak

After devouring her nasi lemak, I had a major criticism. I have a problem with her nasi lemak and I haven’t told her about it yet. I thought I would reveal the problem here in my blog rather than revealing it to her personally. I think in most cases, this could be grounds for a divorce.

The problem I have with her nasi lemak is that she doesn't make it often enough. I had three plates of it that night and another 2 plates over the weekend. Besides my own, the only other nasi lemak that I can eat 3 servings in one sitting is my mom’s.

Her nasi lemak is different compared to mine. The rice she cooks is not as creamy or as rich as mine but it is still very good. Apparently she adds another ingredient, "fenugreek", into her rice. As I said before, a good sambal has to have the perfect balance of sweet, sour, salty and hot. Her sambal doesn’t have the intensity of these tastes but the balance is there. Although I prefer a more intense sambal, her version is perfectly balanced and it doesn't overwhelm your taste buds. Through all the tastes, you can still feel the richness and creaminess of the rice.

My version of nasi lemak will flood your taste buds with the sweet, sour, salty and hotness of the sambal mixed with the creaminess and richness of the rice. Together with the crunchiness of the fried dried anchovies, it makes a wonderful meal. My wife’s nasi lemak achieves the same objectives (a delicious meal that you can have over and over again) but with a lower level intensity.

Maybe next time my wife says she would like nasi lemak, I might just park my butt on the sofa again and wait for it to be served.