Nasi Kerabu

Nasi Kerabu

Nasi kerabu is a Malay rice dish, a type of nasi ulam, in which blue-coloured rice is eaten with dried fish or fried chicken, crackers, pickles and other salads. The blue color of rice resulting from the petals of Clitoria ternatea (butterfly-pea) flowers (kembang telang) used in cooking it. The rice can also be cooked with with plain white rice or rice cooked using turmeric. It is often eaten with solok lada and is also eaten with fried keropok.

Nasi kerabu is very popular in the east coast states of Malaya such as Kelantan and Terengganu, and now can be found throughout Malaysia as well as in southern Thailand where it is known as khāoyam.

Nasi Kerabu Kelantan

Nasi Kerabu Kelantan adalah antara makanan yang unik di Malaysia. Ia tidak sama lansung dengan nasi goreng kerabu ataupun memakan nasi putih bersama sebarang kerabu (e.g: kerabu mangga, kerabu jantung, kerabu perut dll). Nasi Kerabu Kelantan terbahagi kepada dua jenis, pertama nasi kerabu tumis dan kedua nasi kerabu ulam.

Nasi Kerabu Tumis dimakan bersama dengan kuah tumis seakan-akan tumis percik, manakala nasi kerabu ulam samada berwarna kuning ataupun berwarna biru. Bagi nasi kerabu ulam biru, warna biru ini didapati daripada Bunga Telang Biru, Blue Pea atau nama saintifiknya Clitoria Ternatea. Bagi yang tidak mengetahui, ramai memanggilnya sebagai bunga nasi kerabu. Bunga ini banyak ditanam oleh kaum cina kerana mereka membuat kueh dengannya iaitu pulut tai tai yang khusus semasa hari perkahwinan.

Antara lauk yang biasa menemani nasi kerabu iala ikan celup tepung, telur masin, daging bakar, ayam goreng biasa atau berempah. Antara ulam yang terdapat bersamanya ialah daun kesom, kacang panjang@kacang botol, mentimun, daun serai dan bunga kantan.
Suka diingatkan bahawa, menjadi kewajipan dalam hidangan nasi Kerabu Ulam ialah BUDU yang sememangnya menjadi trademark kepada Kelantan. Bagi yang tidak tegal dengannya, anda bolehlah minta digantikan dengan sambal belacan atau sambal garam.

Nasi Kerabu ini merupakan makanan tradisi masyarakat Melayu kelantan. Namun hari ini kita dapat menikmati makanan ini diseluruh negara dengan bertebarannya anak-anak Kelantan yang berniaga makanan diluar tanah Cik Siti Wan Kembang.

Herbal Rice with Sambal Chilli "Nasi" means cooked rice, and "kerabu" means vegetable mixture, so this dish means herbed rice salad. It's very good, and would make a nice dish for a pot-luck meal or a picnic. The original version can be a little dry, so 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil have been added to keep the salad nice and moist. This dish should be served at room temperature, so enough time should be left for the rice, coconut, and fish to cool down completely before mixing everything together. Ingredients (main dish): • 1 Cup fresh grated coconut • ½ Cup dried fish (ikan bilis) • 3 Cups cooked rice • 1 Stalk of lemongrass, very thinly sliced • 1 Torch ginger bud, very thinly sliced (optional) • 1 Shallots, very thinly sliced • Ginger, very thinly sliced (1 inch) • Galangal, very thinly sliced (½ Inch) • Fresh turmeric, very thinly sliced, (½ inch) or 1 teaspoon ground • 1 Bunch of celery leaves • 1 Bunch of cilantro • 1 Bunch of mint • 1 Bunch of watercress • 10 Kaffir lime leaves • 4 Tablespoon vegetable oil, plus 2 extra tablespoons for frying • Salt and black pepper to taste Method (main dish): 1. Heat a large pan over very low heat. Add the coconut and toast it, stirring constantly, for 20 minutes. It will turn golden brown and dry out. 2. Heat 2 Tbsp. of oil in the wok, and add the dried fish. Fry, stirring often, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Let cool, and then cut into small pieces. 3. Pick the leaves from the stems of the herbs. Roll up the leaves into little bunches, with the lime leaves on the outside. Chop very finely, creating very thin julienned herb strips. 4. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Toss with the vegetable oil, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve with Sambal Belacan. Ingredients (Sambal Belacan): • 8–10 Fresh red chillies • 3 to 4 Cili padi • 2cm Square piece belacan, flattened to form a flat cake and roasted over burning coals or pan-fried over a gas fire • Pinch of salt • 3 Limau kasturi, halved Method (Sambal Belacan): 1. Pound the chillies, cili padi and roasted belacan together to a fine or coarse consistency depending on the texture of the sambal you prefer (a pestle and mortar is recommended). 2. Add a pinch of salt to the pounded sambal. 3. Dish out into small saucers and add a squeeze of lime juice. Nasi Kerabu literally means “rice salad”. Kelantan has a variety of Nasi Kerabu. Nasi Kerabu Biasa (‘Normal’), Putih (‘White’), Hitam (‘Black’, though the actual color is blue after the flower used as colouring in the recipe) and Kuning (‘Yellow’, for the turmeric used in the cooking process). Each Kerabu is usually served with a matching, traditional ‘sambal’. The ‘Kerabu’ (salad) itself can be any combination of vegetables or edible leaves.