Nasi lemak is the unofficial national dish of Malaysia. Its name is a Malay word that literally means 'rice in cream'. The name is derived from the cooking process whereby rice is soaked in rich coconut cream and then the mixture steamed. Sometimes knotted screwpine (pandan) leaves are thrown into the rice while steaming to give it more fragrance.

Traditionally, this comes as a platter with cucumber, small dried anchovies, roasted peanuts, kangkong (water convulvulus) hard boiled egg and hot spicy sauce (sambal). Nasi lemak can also come with any other accompaniments such as chicken, squid or beef curry. Traditionally most of these accompaniments are spicy in nature.

Nasi lemak is traditionally a breakfast dish, and it is sold early in the morning at roadside stalls in Malaysia, where it is often sold packed in newspaper, brown paper or banana leaf. However, many more upmarket restaurants now serve it on a plate for lunch or dinner.