The nasi lemak diaries: Lunch at Grandmum Kitchen
Happy Merdeka Day!
'Merdeka' means 'independence', and today marks 67 years since the Federation of Malaya (as it was then known) proclaimed independence from the British empire, on 31 August 1957. This year, celebrations are being held in Putrajaya, Malaysia's administrative capital (the usual venue is Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur). Crowds started arriving from midnight, to get the best spots for the National Day parade, with festivities officially kicking off at 7 am this morning. The parade includes military and police marches; air force flyovers; cultural performances; and floats and vehicles from different states, agencies and organisations.
Nasi lemak is Malaysia's unofficial national dish, so I'm marking Merdeka Day with a post about the best nasi lemak I've had so far in Malaysia. To find out what nasi lemak is and what makes it so great, see my post The nasi lemak diaries: Lunch at Ali, Muthu & Ah Hock. But in a nutshell, it's rice cooked in coconut milk, accompanied by egg, peanuts, anchovies, sambal (chili paste) and (usually) chicken.
I found myself at Grandmum Kitchen quite by accident. I was visiting a clinic in Subang Jaya (a city that's part of Greater Kuala Lumpur), when it suddenly dawned on me that the neighbourhood I was in - SS15 - might be a foodie destination, as it had a familiar ring to it. The receptionist confirmed it was and recommended a few places. As soon as I heard 'nasi lemak', my fate was sealed.
I was expecting a hole in the wall, but Grandmum Kitchen had surprisingly modern decor - along with random pictures of senior citizens hamming it up. There were only a few patrons, even though it was 1 pm on a Saturday afternoon.
Needing a coffee badly, I ordered a 'Kopi O' - what I thought was Malaysian coffee with evaporated milk. A black coffee came out. I thought the waitress had gotten it wrong, but she explained that 'Kopi C' was what I was looking for.
I then ordered the classic Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng - nasi lemak with fried chicken. It arrived quickly and was better presented than most.
It was, in a nutshell, the best nasi lemak I've ever had. A 9/10, with every element near perfection. I do need to heavily caveat what I mean by 'perfection'. Everyone has different preferences as to how they like their nasi lemak cooked. And I haven't been in KL long enough to try all of the more famous restaurants (not for lack of trying, I can assure you).
Update: in the nine months since I wrote this post, I've sampled quite a few more more nasi lemaks, including some of those more famous ones. Grandmum's remains my favourite, so much so that I've bumped it up to 9.5/10 - which also makes room for some of the other very good ones I've had.
So what did I like about Grandmum Kitchen's nasi lemak?
The rice was well-cooked and fragrant with coconut. The ikan bilis - deep-fried anchovies - were crispy but not hard. And the deep-fried peanuts were crunchy and flavourful.
The sambal was a bit on the sweet side and not hot at all - exactly the way I like it. It may be a chili paste, but I've never encountered a hot sambal with nasi lemak. Update: I've had a few more nasi lemaks under my belt since then, and there are some that most definitely come with hot sambal!
The chicken was the star of the show. There were tasty bits of batter (at least that's what I think they were) sprinkled on top. The leg quarter was well seasoned and - unusually - on the spicy side, albeit very manageable. The skin was super crispy but very easy to cut through with a spoon (knives aren't commonly used for eating here) and the meat was very tender.
If I had to name one negative, the banana leaf tore easily as I cut into the chicken, and the shredded pieces kept getting in the way.
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