Kelantan Icon · Blue Herbed Rice
Nasi Kerabu
Photo: amrufm / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Not every nasi kerabu is blue — besides the butterfly-pea version, there are white and turmeric-tinted versions, but the blue one is the most famous.
Rice is steamed with butterfly pea flower petals until it turns deep blue, then piled with a tangle of raw herbs and shredded vegetables, a stuffed chilli, salted egg, fried fish, and crackers, all mixed together before eating. Kelantan market stalls and night bazaars sell it as a colorful, herb-heavy daily rice plate.
Why it's made this way: It is a signature rice dish of Kelantan, shaped by the Malay and Thai cultural blending of Malaysia's northeast, and its herb-heavy style reflects the region's love of raw ulam greens.
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