Saturday 18 August 2012

Nasi Tomato (Tomato Rice)


When I tasted Nasi Tomato for the first time, I immediately fell in love with it. The aroma and flavor was tantalizing. Pair it with Ayam Masak Merah and you have a delicious meal made in heaven. It is also good with Kuzi Ayam or Kuzi Daging.

The ingredients are not much different from Nasi Minyak or Nasi Hujan Panas except for the addition of tomato puree and tomato ketchup. The recipe below is again taken from Kak Liza's book "Senangnya Memasak Nasi" (So Easy to Cook Rice).

Just in case you are wondering, you can freeze leftover Nasi Tomato (I doubt there'll be any) and reheat. It tastes just as good as fresh.

Nasi Tomato (Recipe by Chef Hanieliza with my modifications in red)

Ingredients A
- 5 cups rice (washed and drained) (I used 2 cups)
- 1/2 cup milk (I used 1/4 cup evaporated milk)
- 4 tomatoes (chopped)(I omitted and used 2 tablespoons tomato puree)
- 1/2 cup tomato ketchup (I used 2 tablespoons)
- 3 tablespoons ghee (I used about 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil and 1 tablespoon ghee)
- Salt to taste
- 6 cups water (I used 2 1/2 cups water)
- pandan leaf (knotted) (I used 2 leaves)
- 2 stalks lemongrass (I used 1 stalk)

Ingredients B (to saute)
- 3 cloves garlic (sliced) (I used 2 cloves)
- 5 shallots (sliced)
- 1 inch ginger (I used 1/2 inch)
- 3 cardamom (I used 2)
- 3 cloves (I used 2)
- 1 inch cinnamon stick (I used 1/2 inch)
- 2 star anise (I used 1)

Method :
1. Heat ghee in a pan and saute ingredients B, lemongrass and pandan leaf until fragrant.
2. Add tomatoes, salt and mix well.
3. Add milk and water and bring to a boil.
4. Put the sauteed ingredients into a rice pot together with the rice and cook as usual.
5. When rice is cooked and almost dry, mix the rice taking care not to break the rice grains.

Personal Note :
1. I mixed water, milk, tomato puree, tomato ketchup and salt in a measuring cup.
2. When the sauteed ingredients become aromatic, I put the rice into the pan and mixed.
3. Then I transferred the rice into the rice pot and poured the liquids in and cook the rice as normal.

I served the Nasi Tomato with Kuzi Ayam (Chicken Kuzi).
A simple acar (pickles) made with cucumber, pineapple, onions, vinegar, sugar and salt makes a great accompaniment. And sambal belacan too!
Sambal nenas (Pineapple sambal) also makes this very appetizing.
It's not unusual to have seconds :)
I would like to wish all my Muslim friends and readers Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. May all of you have a joyous and wonderful time with your family, friends and loved ones!



31 comments:

  1. Phong Hong, Tomato rice is one of my favourite flavoured rice served with fresh acar/salad and of course a spicy curry.....

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    1. Mine too, Kimmy. Sure tambah nasi when eating this!

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  2. You just reminded me that I've not made tomato rice for a loooong time! Yours made me drool nonstop and thinking of the combination with ayam masak merah makes me hungry! WOW!!!

    Yeah Raya is here...I'm excited too! Selamat Hari Raya to ALL! Happy Holidays too :)

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    1. Nasi tomato does put us in the Raya mood too!

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  3. I love nasi tomato, used to buy from the pasar malam with the fried chicken...yum! Thanks for this recipe.

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    1. You are welcome, Esther. Now you can cook this yourself.

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  4. Oh this is absolutely looks so delicious and appetizing. And with that pickled too. Got to try to cook nasi tomato some day.

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    1. Mel, you must cook this. Make sure got enough for nasi tambah!

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  5. I have never tasted tomato rice before. Saw many people ordered this rice in a vietnamese restaurant but never occurred to me to try. Yours look very appetising. Already bookmarked this for later. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. You are welcome, Veronica. I am sure you will love this.

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  6. wow.. a different version.. would love to try it..

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  7. Didn't know need to add milk. I like the way you cooked the rice. not soggy.

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    1. Thanks, Small Kuching. Must not put too much water.

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  8. You also remind me that I have so long did not cook tomato rice with Ayam masak merah, wait until my sore throat recover , I want to cook this. Your sound so yummy too.

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    1. Sonia, I am waiting to see your version!

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  9. I've often made tomato rice, but usually a Spanish tomato rice, or Italian style. Love your beautiful creation! Looks and sounds so delicious!

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    1. Elisabeth, I must check out your version. Am getting more adventurous these days!

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  10. I can easily finish a bowl of this rice even with your simple acar. This is so good!

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  11. My first experience with nasi tomato wasn't as good as yours. It was a whole lot of red and nothing else so I didn't think much of it and never had it again. I can see now that it has so much more flavor in this recipe then the one I had. I know I would love this. All the spices I love! Thanks for this, otherwise I'd still have a negative view on the nasi tomato.

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    1. Ping, sometimes that's what happens when the chef has an off day. The food comes out not tasting as it should. I know you will love the real nasi tomato. One more tempting carb recipe to tank our diets!

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  12. i never had tomato rice, to be frank all i thought is just maybe a mixture of tomatoes, ketchup and rice and i didnt know that it is also cooked with lemongrass and some spices, now i bet that they must be really nice and flavourful!

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    1. Oh, Lena, you are missing out on something here. Cook this and fall in love!

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  13. Hah!!! I wanna try cooking this. My daughter can cook, learnt from her Malay college mates...so she would cook it each time. Never bothered to watch and learn. Now, I can try and cook it myself. Thanks for the recipe!

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    1. That's good! So look forwards to see this in your future post.

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  14. Hi Phong Hong, wah.... this is my favorite. I can have extra serving, no problem. I like to eat with ayam kurma.

    I'm late cos busy with work, guess no more left? Never mind I feast with my eyes. LOL

    Have a nice weekend, regards.

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    1. Amelia, next time must make advance booking. Sure can reserve for you :)

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  15. nice
    https://realrecipe4u.com/strawberry_milshake/

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