In Malay, "nasi" means rice. There is no equivalent word in English for "lemak". The closest meaning of "lemak" is fat or grease.
Nasi lemak is prepared by cooking a mixture of rice and proportionate amount of coconut milk known as "santan" in Malay. The flesh of a ripe coconut is taken by grinding and later squeezed to extract the juice out. This juice is known as "santan."
Other than the nasi lemak rice itself, a set of our standard nasi lemak (nasi lemak biasa) also includes slice cucumbers, anchovies, nuts, boiled egg and sambal paste.The sambal paste is made of dried chillies, salt, sugar and spices.
Most people believe that consuming nasi lemak is not good for their health because the coconut oil contained in the rice would increase the cholesterol level in their body.
Roti Canai is a form of puffed bread served hot with curry or dhal. Tastes best when taken for breakfast or morning tea; eaten with the hand (the 'right' one of course!); accompanied by curry or dhal and washed down with strong, hot, sweet kopi-O (Malaysian style coffee).
Roti canai or roti chennai is a dish unique to Malaysia, which has its origins lost in the Indian community of those countries. Roti means bread in Hindi (and Malay) The term 'canai' comes from 'channa', a mixture of boiled chickpeas in a spicy gravy from Northern India which it was traditionally served with.
Both nasi lemak and roti canai are Malaysian favourite food, but they contain high calories and high in cholesterol. As many of us are approaching middle age or even olden age, we should be kind and gentle to our body. The least that we should do is to be moderate in everything we do and watch out on our food intake. Eat healthy food!
