Nasi Kerabu (Malaysian Butterfly Pea Rice)
Rice cooked with butterfly pea brew results in blue rice. It's called nasi kerabu in Malaysia. The rice can be a homogenous blue but you may give it a marbled look just for fun. Nasi kerabu is traditionally served with fried (or grilled) meat, chicken or fish, and assortment of herbs and vegetables, and crackers. The recipe below has instructions for cooking the blue rice only. What to serve it with is up to you.
Ingredients
- 3 cups jasmine rice
- 2 pinches salt
- 1 stalk lemongrass, lightly pounded
- 1 pair kaffir lime leaves, (see notes after the recipe)
- 6 dried butterfly pea flowers
Instructions
- Rinse the jasmine rice several times until the water is no longer cloudy.
- Drain the rinsed rice and place in the rice cooker and pour in 4 ½ cups of water. Leave to soak for 30 minutes.
- Stir the salt into the rice.
- Add the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves to the rice, and switch on the rice cooker.
- Place the butterfly pea flowers in a cup and pour in half a cup of hot water. Leave to steep.
- When the rice is done, uncover the cooker and rake through the grains with a fork to fluff up the rice.
- Strain the butterfly pea flower brew and drizzle over the cooked rice. Stir lightly.
- Replace the rice cooker lid and leave the rice to continue cooking in the residual heat (no, don't turn on the rice cooker again) for another five minutes.
Notes
Adding lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and salt is optional. But since butterfly pea brew does not really add any distinctive taste or aroma to the rice, throwing in aromatic ingredients seemed like a good idea.
For a homogenous blue nasi kerabu, stir the butterfly pea flower brew into the rice before switching on the rice cooker.
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