Name: Nasi Lemak
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 3½ oz. dried paper lantern chiles, dried bird chiles, or dried chiles de árbol; 2 cups vegetable oil; ½ cup red-skin Spanish peanuts; 2½ cups small dried anchovies; 2 medium shallots, halved; 3 garlic cloves; 2 Holland chiles, stems removed, halved lengthwise; 4½ tsp. sugar; 1½ tsp. tamarind concentrate; 2 cups jasmine rice; 1 tsp. kosher salt; 3 pandan leaves (optional); ½ cup light unsweetened coconut milk; 4 large eggs; ½ English hothouse cucumber, cut in half lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise; Soy sauce (for serving); 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.

Photo by Alex Lau

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. This recipe is from chef Kyo Pang of Kopitiam in New York, No. 6 on 2019’s Hot Ten list. 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.

Recipe notes