Nasi Goreng Sambal Special

Product Review

Ok la, ok la, this is not exactly Nasi Goreng because the sambal rice is cooked in the rice-cooker. But that’s the closest I can call it ok? Ah-mm calls it “Nasi Lemak”, even worse right? She had this “nasi lemak” for lunch anyway and said the rice was “nice leh”. I asked her, “有 sambal 味吗?” (“Any sambal taste?”) and her reply? “没有leh!” (“Don’t have leh!”) Priceless.

Ah-mm is my precious aunt who will be 79 this October. When I was a little girl, she fed me til I was obese and then sewed dresses for me to make up for it. BECAUSE CAN’T FIND MY SIZE AND THEN she and 88 (my other aunt- they’re sisters) made up stories like oh, no la, outside de dresses pattern not nice so we sew for you. I bought their story and felt so special. lololol. I love them both so very much :)

ANYWAY. Today I “made”/ assembled Sambal Rice for Ah-mm and Jason. Yamie Rice sent me two new items- Sambal Rice and Black Pepper Rice and I was interested to see how the sambal rice would taste like. Honestly the thought of buying this didn’t even cross my mind because I always cook, and something “instant” isn’t really my style. But I know how pre-packaged-easy-to-cook rice can be a God-send for people who don’t cook, like one of my good friends who lugs back boxes of the stuff to China where she is stationed.

The rice came in a box with a single pouch inside. It is easy to cook and not exactly “instant” because you still need the rice-cooker, which is a good thing because engaging the ricecooker makes it feel more like “real food”. My idea of “instant” was “mix water, stir and eat”. Sorry, I am an amateur at this. What you do is empty the pouch into your rice cooker, add water, let it cook, keep warm for 15 minutes and eat.

Being quite a health conscious person, I like to read nutritional labels. And being a huge MYOJO Char Mee 100 fan, if I gotta eat “instant” and carbs, I always reach for Char Mee. When faced with a new product, I always compare it to Char Mee to gauge whether the level of satisfaction is worth the calories. Here’s the side-by-side nutritional comparison:

Each pouch serves 2 normal people or 1 husband. Here are the cooking instructions. Pretty straight-forward:

When I first opened the package, I caught a whiff of fragrant sambal and thought, “Hey, veryy promising!” It also came with some anchovies. When the rice was cooked, it didn’t smell as nice but give chance la. This was when the uncooked rice was emptied into the ricecooker:

Naked cooked rice:

I dressed it up with airfried begadil from Sheng Siong, airfried silver fish, a sunny side up, cucumber slices and more sambal. Jason’s verdict: “Can eat if dressed up.” Ah-mm’s verdict: “Nice!”

My verdict (I snuck a teaspoon because I’m not supposed to eat carbs): Pre-packaged rice will always have that pre-packaged taste. I wouldn’t say it is not nice but I won’t go out and buy 10 boxes of it (“My Kuali” made me want to go out and buy cartons of the stuff). The sambal taste can be stronger but I think that is a fair trade off for a convenient product with no added MSG.

This is a great option for people who like or need the convenience, don’t like cooking, and who are away from Singapore! Plus, if you’re just starting to cook, dressing it up the way I did can 1) boost your confidence and 2) wow your family with minimal effort.

Will be trying the Black Pepper rice on another occasion. Thank you to the folks at Yamie Rice who sent these new items my way!