Nasi lemak: a humble rice dish with boiled eggs, peanuts, anchovies and sambal. A Malaysian staple versatile enough to appeal to all appetites regardless of the time of the day. It goes great with other curried and fried dishes; it’s no wonder it’s regarded as our national dish.
Over the years the nasi lemak has become the unofficial barometer for the rising costs of living in our country. Along with the teh tarik, the nasi lemak never fails to be mentioned whenever a discussion on escalating food prices erupts. But regardless of how much its price steadily increases, Malaysians can never go without their weekly fix of banana leaf-wrapped coconut rice and are willing to pay any price as witnessed by the huge scale of price differences in the Klang Valley.
A simple nasi lemak bungkus sold at a roadside stall or coffee shop make for a cheap meal at less than RM1.50 per packet. Additional servings of meat and vegetable dishes can increase the price to RM4.50 – RM7 per pack but if you prefer to enjoy it in the comfort of a restaurant with air-conditioning be prepared to spend an average of RM10 – RM15.
Some franchise restaurants operating in shopping malls and affluent suburban areas claim to offer their own traditional family-kept secret recipe nasi lemak at premium prices of RM20 and above. If you are dining at any 4-star hotel restaurant in KL and have a hankering for some crunchy ikan bilis and kari sotong, don’t forget to blink when the waiter brings you a RM40++ bill.
If you think that sounds ridiculous wait till you see what our brethren living overseas have to pay whenever they feel homesick:
The travelling nasi lemak map
It’s awesome to think that we can still walk down a street and order a regular nasi lemak with the change in your pocket. Who said indulgences need to break the bank?
This article was featured at Yahoo website and was brought to you by Brendon Lee from RinggitPlus.com.
