Jia Xiang Nasi Lemak – Butterfly Pea Nasi Lemak Hidden in an Industrial Estate

Note: Jia Xiang Nasi Lemak shifted to CT Hub 2 on 8th Aug 2017. Do check them out!

Think breakfast and one of the first things that comes to mind is a flavoursome plate of nasi lemak. Two brothers Kenneth and Shawn are nasi lemak lovers. They have been reminiscing about eating their Grandma’s homemade nasi lemak back in Northwest Malaysia Kedah. As a way of paying homage to their Grandma, the brothers decided to share this uniquely tasting recipe with fellow Singaporeans by opening Jia Xiang Nasi Lemak.

“We love the nasi lemak made by our Grandma and we hope to bring this unique taste to Singapore. My grandma is very good in cooking especially in Malay and Nyonya foods. We were born in a small Malay village and we have a lot of Malay neighbours and friends who inspired us. My brother was a chef. He is very passionate about his work and learnt the recipe from our Grandma.”

While learning, the brothers added their own touch and improvise the recipe further until they achieve the results they wanted. We ordered the Pandan infused Set A2 ($3.50) as well as the picturesque Blue Rice Set B3 ($4). Both sets also had an egg, chicken drumstick or 3 joint wing, sambal chilli, achar as well as anchovies and nuts.

Jia Xiang Nasi Lemak uses less coconut milk and 100% natural pandan juice to give it the aroma. The sunny side up egg was nicely cooked, with the yolk golden and runny. It sure feels oddly satisfying watching that yolk break over the light and fluffy rice. Munch on their tender fried chicken, which was well-seasoned with garlic, onion, pepper and their self-mixed marinate. Fancy that added sourness? Each meal comes with their signature Achar, which I found to be pretty decent.

I was captivated by the gorgeous mix of white and Persian blue rice cooked using butterfly pea. Their grandmother often uses this flower to cook rice and to make Butterfly Pea Flower Tea.

“This flower is very common in my village and we have plenty of it in our garden. However, it is pretty rare in Singapore, and we hardly see people add such flower into the rice. Many customers have no idea what butterfly pea flower about, they thought we use coloring for our rice, but once we explained to them that we use 100% natural butterfly pea flower for our rice.”

Who doesn’t love a good, fragrant sambal chilli? Jia Xiang Nasi Lemak’s homemade sambal is robust in flavours, slightly spicy with a strong presence of shallots and a perfect balance of sweet and savoury. Be sure to check out their weekly special Rendang Chicken set, only available every Tuesday.

Every Tuesday, they serve chicken rendang! Cooked for many hours, the meat is tender with the richness from the variety of spices used.

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