SanDai (Walnut Creek, California)

At SanDai, the nasi lemak options blue-tinted coconut rice (dried butterfly pea flower is added for colour), Belachan sambal terasi (which additionally incorporates fermented shrimp paste, tomatoes, garlic, and shallots), ultra-crispy fried hen marinated in koji, coconut floss (shredded coconut with turmeric and a special sambal), and peanuts. 

“California is so various, so I don’t simply persist with custom,” says chef Nora Haron, who was born in Singapore to folks of South Indian and Indonesian descent. “Nasi lemak is my favourite breakfast dish. Once I land in Singapore my mom may have it prepared for me. Combine it collectively or not, do what you need – however sambal is a necessity, its deep umami taste ties every little thing collectively.”

For the 2023 APEC (Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation) convention in close by San Francisco, she was tapped to make 250 nasi lemaks for company. Her roti canai — made with condensed milk so as to add sweetness, flour, and ghee (her grandfather’s recipe) — comes with a facet of chickpea coconut curry. As an alternative of teh tarik, a sizzling milk tea known as teh halia is served. It’s intensely gingery as a result of contemporary ginger juice.

Kampar (Philadelphia)

The presentation is a present stopper: Open a brown paper envelope and discover nasi lemak on a banana leaf, with all the edges topping the mound of rice.

“A nasi lemak woman in my city packed a basket on her bike and cycled round city singing a tune telling folks to get up and get some. That was our wake-up name. For me, opening the packet is probably the most valuable reminiscence,” says Ange Branca, chef-owner of Kampar, which is called after the city the place she was born. “It’s a transportable rice dish. If you concentrate on earlier than eating places existed, meals was so street-wise. Again within the day when no serving ware existed, probably the most pure packing materials was banana leaf.”

Her first restaurant, Sate Kampar (2016-2020), was a 2017 James Beard Award nominee for Finest New Restaurant, the primary Malaysian restaurant so honored. “The skewered meats had been what bought folks by means of the door, however the nasi lemak was what made them come again many times,” Philadelphia Journal wrote of her first eatery, in a rave overview of Kampar, which opened in 2024.

Branca’s nasi lemak gives a alternative of 5 sides: beef rendang, spice-roasted fried hen, sardines in spicy tomato sauce, greens fried with sambal, or pickled greens. Her sambal is fundamental: shallots, onions, and chile paste from each dried and contemporary chiles.

Kampar is dinner-only, and Malaysian-style cocktails embrace whiskey tarik, which incorporates Japanese vermouth infused with banana leaf charred in a wood-fired oven, black Malaysian tea, coconut cream, and lemon and orange juices. “Nasi lemak is eaten any time of day in Malaysia, like when folks exit at night time for drinks,” she says. “It’s such a consolation meals.”

Meals Terminal (Atlanta)

Atlanta could not come to thoughts whenever you consider Malaysian meals, however Meals Terminal is so common, it has 4 places. Its first is on Buford Freeway within the suburb of Chamblee, Georgia. On this industrial-looking house with uncovered ducts and metallic chairs, nasi lemak is served with a alternative of fried hen, beef rendang, hen curry, and spare ribs or tofu curry. (So is roti canai, minus the tofu.) The Michelin Information praises chef-owner Amy Wong’s massive menu and beneficiant parts (and calls the garlic noodles a favourite dish in Atlanta).

Damansara (San Francisco)

Nasi lemak is served with blue coconut rice, turmeric hen leg curry, pickled greens, and sambal belachan at Damansara restaurant, opened in 2022, after years as a pop-up in an house and later rented areas. Chef-owner Tracy Goh hails from the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Damansara.