Nasi Dagang Kelantan 吉兰丹商人饭

I bought some Siam rice, glutinous rice and 'nasi dagang' rice on my last trip to Kelantan. Oh boy, am I craving for some 'nasi dagang' this day ! Basically, 'nasi dagang' rice is the mixed rice between unpolished glutinous rice & Siam fragrant rice if not mistaken. That's what the lady owner of the rice stall told me when I visited the famous 'Siti Khatijah Market' at Kota Bahru, Kelantan recently. And the price for the unpolished glutinous rice is two times higher than the Siam fragrant rice. I'll have to say its all worth it ! I only bought two small packets ready mixed 'nasi dagang' rice cause hubby said we'll be back again some time soon. So, its all on the list for my next trip. hehe..... Somehow, for those who are unable to get this kind of mixed rice. You may try to combine unpolished rice or brown rice with pure white glutinous rice & some long grain basmati rice. Ratio = 0.5 : 1 : 1.

Nasi dagang is such popular dish over the east cost of Malaysia. Its usually serve with hard boiled eggs, pickled vegetables, fried salted fish, and the famous ikan tonggol masak gulai and of course the famous steamed 'nasi dagang' rice as well. 'Ikan tonggol masak gulai' also meaning thunnus tonggola fish cooked in sweet spiced thick coconut milk or the east cost style masak lemak. I am in love with the thick gravy.

Ingredients for steamed rice (nasi dagang kukus) :
3 cups  nasi dagang rice, soaked for an hour
1 cups  thick coconut milk
2 cups  water
1 tspn  salt
1 tspn  sugar
1 " ginger, pounded
3 shallots, sliced & pounded
1/4 tspn   fenugreek / halba, soaked for 10 minutes
pandan leaves or lemongrass

Method :
(1) place drained soaked rice to a 9" tray and let to steam for 20 minutes over high heat.
(2) at the same time, stir together salt, sugar, coconut milk & water, set aside.
(3) once the rice is ready, stir all the coconut milk mixture & the remaining ingredients into steamed rice then mix well.
(4) again, cover the rice and let to steam for another 25 minutes over medium heat. Make sure you add in enough water to the steamer.

Note : its best not to soak the rice overnight but if you prefer softer rice then keep it.

Ingredients for pickled salad :
1 large Japanese cucumber, cut into bite size
1 small carrot, cut into bite size
1 bird eye chili, sliced
4 TB  calamansi juice
4 TB  sugar
(combine all ingredients and mix well then set aside to rest for an hour)

* 4 hard boiled eggs for serving
* some salted fish as desired

Instead of using ikan tonggol, I prefer cooking with chicken cause hubby & my boy doesn't like ikan tonggol.

Ingredients for Ayam masak gulai :
2 large  whole chicken thigh, cut into six
2 cups  thick coconut milk
1 cup  water
2 tspn  salt
4 TB  gula melaka/gula merah
4  lemongrass, roughly smashed

Blended paste :
1 large  onion, sliced
4 shallots, sliced
5 cloves  garlic, skinned
10 dried chilies, soaked till soften
5  red chilies, sliced
2"  galangal, sliced
1 "  shrimp paste (belacan)
(combine all ingredients by adding in some water, blend everything till smooth & creamy)

Mixed spice paste:
2 tspn   coriander powder
1 tspn   fennel powder
1 tspn   fenugreek, soaked & pounded
(combine everything with just enough water to turn into paste)

Method :
(1) preheat a wok with about 1/2 cup  cooking oil, then saute lemongrass til aromatic over low heat.
(2) now, add in mixed spice paste continue saute till fragrant for about 1-2 minutes.
(3) next, stir in blended paste continue saute till red and aromatic over medium heat but not dry. Add in extra cooking oil if necessary.
(4) add in chicken meat and keep on cooking till the meat became 70% cooked.
(5) now, pour in coconut milk and stir gradually till everything well combined.
(6) cover by lid and let it cook over medium heat, stir gradually to prevent burnt bottom.
(7) you can actually smell a very strong aroma of the spices once the gravy became thicken, now its time to lower down the heat and let it continue cooking for a little while.
(8) when some red chili oil appeared on the gravy meaning its done and ready to serve. But normally if you're using packet coconut milk, the chili oil layer will not appear as expected.

I actually soaked my first batch of rice overnight which turned out not as what I'm expecting. The rice became more whitish. The colour should be more to brown then white. However, its still acceptable cause hubby prefer softer rice. >o<

My Nasi Dagang post has been featured on 12/9/2014 Asian Food Channel (Official). Thank you very much AFC.