🇸🇬🇧🇳 Singapore & Brunei Kaffir Lime Recipes

🍚 Hainanese Chicken Rice (Aromatic Version)

Singapore's national dish — poached chicken with fragrant rice cooked in chicken stock. Some versions add kaffir lime leaves to the rice for extra fragrance.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (1.5 kg)
• 3 kaffir lime leaves
• 3 cups jasmine rice
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 3 slices ginger, 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp chicken fat
• Chili sauce, ginger-scallion sauce, dark soy sauce

Instructions

1. Bring stock to boil with ginger, garlic, and kaffir lime leaves.
2. Poach chicken for 35 minutes. Remove and ice-bath immediately.
3. Cook rice in chicken stock with chicken fat and sesame oil.
4. Slice chicken. Serve with rice, chili sauce, ginger-scallion sauce, and dark soy.

🍛 Nasi Lemak (Singaporean Coconut Rice)

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice
• 3 kaffir lime leaves
• 1 cup coconut milk, pandan leaf
• Sambal, ikan bilis (anchovies), peanuts, egg, cucumber

Instructions

1. Cook rice with coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, pandan, and water.
2. Prepare sambal (chili paste with dried shrimp and belacan).
3. Fry ikan bilis and peanuts. Hard-boil egg.
4. Serve rice with sambal, anchovies, peanuts, egg, and cucumber.

🍚 Hainanese Curry Rice

Ingredients

• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 3 tbsp curry powder, 400ml coconut milk
• Chicken, cabbage, tofu, hard-boiled egg
• Thick gravy, white rice

Instructions

1. Fry curry powder with kaffir lime leaves until fragrant.
2. Add coconut milk and water. Simmer with chicken until tender.
3. Add vegetables. Cook until soft.
4. Serve curry and gravy over rice with fried chicken and sides.

🍜 Katong Laksa (Singaporean Coconut Noodle Soup)

Singapore's most famous laksa — a rich, spicy coconut curry broth with thick rice noodles, prawns, cockles, and tofu puffs. Kaffir lime leaves are essential for the broth's fragrance.

Ingredients

• 5 kaffir lime leaves
• 3 tbsp laksa paste (rempah)
• 400ml coconut milk, 2 cups stock
• Thick rice noodles (laksa noodles)
• Prawns, cockles, tofu puffs, fish cake
• Sambal, laksa leaf (daun kesum), lime

Instructions

1. Fry laksa paste with kaffir lime leaves until fragrant and oil separates.
2. Add coconut milk and stock. Simmer 15 minutes.
3. Add prawns, cockles, tofu puffs, fish cake.
4. Serve over noodles. Top with sambal, laksa leaf, and lime wedge.

🍜 Prawn Mee (Prawn Noodle Soup)

Ingredients

• 500g prawn heads and shells (for stock)
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 500g prawns, pork ribs
• Yellow noodles or mee sua
• Kangkong, fried shallots, chili

Instructions

1. Fry prawn heads until red. Add water and kaffir lime leaves. Simmer 30 minutes.
2. Strain stock. Return to pot.
3. Add pork ribs. Simmer until tender.
4. Serve over noodles with prawns, kangkong, fried shallots, and chili.

🍜 Mee Soto (Bruneian Chicken Noodle Soup)

A Bruneian/Malay classic — turmeric-spiced chicken soup with yellow noodles. Kaffir lime leaves add depth to the aromatic broth.

Ingredients

• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 500g chicken thighs
• 1 inch turmeric, lemongrass, ginger
• Yellow noodles, bean sprouts
• Fried onion, cilantro, chili sauce, lime

Instructions

1. Boil chicken with turmeric, lemongrass, ginger, and kaffir lime leaves.
2. Shred chicken. Strain broth.
3. Serve noodles with broth, shredded chicken, bean sprouts.
4. Top with fried onion, cilantro, chili sauce, and lime.

🍢 Satay (Malaysian/Singaporean Grilled Skewers)

Ingredients

• 500g chicken or beef, sliced thin
• 4 kaffir lime leaves, finely minced
• 2 tbsp lemongrass, minced
• 1 tbsp turmeric powder, 2 tbsp coriander
• Coconut milk for marinade
• Peanut sauce, rice cakes (ketupat), cucumber, onion

Instructions

1. Marinate meat with kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, turmeric, coriander, and coconut milk.
2. S thread onto skewers.
3. Grill over charcoal, basting with coconut oil.
4. Serve with peanut sauce, ketupat, cucumber, and onion.

🐟 Ikan Bakar (Grilled Fish in Banana Leaf)

Ingredients

• 1 whole fish (snapper or tilapia)
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• Sambal belacan (chili paste with shrimp paste)
• Banana leaves for wrapping
• Lime, soy sauce

Instructions

1. Score fish. Rub with sambal and kaffir lime leaves.
2. Wrap in banana leaf.
3. Grill over charcoal, turning once, until cooked through.
4. Serve with rice, sambal, and lime wedges.

🍗 Ayam Buah Keluak (Peranakan Chicken with Black Nut)

The crown jewel of Peranakan cuisine — chicken braised with buah keluak (black nut), tamarind, and kaffir lime. Complex, tangy, and deeply savory.

Ingredients

• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 500g chicken pieces
• 10 buah keluak nuts (soaked 3 days)
• 3 tbsp rempah (spice paste)
• Tamarind juice, dark soy sauce, sugar
• Lemongrass, galangal, turmeric

Instructions

1. Fry rempah with kaffir lime leaves until fragrant.
2. Add chicken and brown. Add tamarind juice and water.
3. Add buah keluak nuts. Simmer 45 minutes.
4. Season with dark soy sauce and sugar. Serve with rice.

🥘 Nyonya Chap Chye (Mixed Vegetable Stew)

Ingredients

• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• Cabbage, glass noodles, tofu, dried shrimp
• Pork belly or chicken
• Oyster sauce, soy sauce, garlic, fermented soybeans

Instructions

1. Fry garlic and fermented soybeans with kaffir lime leaves.
2. Add meat and brown. Add harder vegetables.
3. Add glass noodles, cabbage, and oyster sauce.
4. Cover and simmer until tender. Serve with rice.

🥟 Kueh Pie Tee (Crispy Top Hats)

Iconic Peranakan appetizer — crispy pastry cups filled with julienned vegetables and shrimp.

Ingredients

• 3 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
• Jicama (bangkuang), carrot, dried shrimp
• Oyster sauce, soy sauce
• Pie tee cups (store-bought or homemade)
• Chili sauce, lettuce

Instructions

1. Stir-fry jicama, carrot, dried shrimp, and kaffir lime leaves.
2. Season with oyster sauce and soy sauce. Cook until soft.
3. Fill crispy cups with filling.
4. Garnish with chili sauce and lettuce. Serve immediately.

🍛 Nyonya Laksa (Peranakan Laksa)

Ingredients

• 6 kaffir lime leaves
• Nyonya rempah (dried chilies, belacan, lemongrass, galangal, turmeric)
• Coconut milk, tamarind
• Thick noodles, prawns, tofu puffs, cockles
• Laksa leaf, cucumber, onion, sambal

Instructions

1. Fry nyonya rempah with kaffir lime leaves until fragrant.
2. Add coconut milk and tamarind juice. Simmer 20 minutes.
3. Add prawns, tofu puffs, cockles.
4. Serve over noodles with laksa leaf, cucumber, onion, sambal.

🐟 Otak-Otak (Grilled Fish Cake in Banana Leaf)

Ingredients

• 3 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
• 500g white fish, blended
• Coconut milk, lemongrass, galangal, turmeric
• Chili paste, egg white
• Banana leaves for wrapping

Instructions

1. Blend fish with coconut milk, spices, and kaffir lime leaves.
2. Season with chili paste and egg white.
3. Spoon onto banana leaves. Fold and secure.
4. Grill over charcoal until puffed and cooked through.

🍡 Kueh Lapis (Layered Rice Cake)

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice flour
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
• 1 cup coconut milk, sugar
• Food coloring (red, green)

Instructions

1. Mix rice flour, coconut milk, sugar, and kaffir lime leaves.
2. Divide batter. Color each portion differently.
3. Steam one layer at a time, building up.
4. Cool completely before slicing. Serve.

🍡 Onde-Onde (Coconut-Filled Glutinous Rice Balls)

Ingredients

• 2 cups glutinous rice flour
• 1 kaffir lime leaf, finely sliced
• Pandan juice for color and flavor
• Gula melaka (palm sugar) for filling
• Grated coconut for coating

Instructions

1. Mix rice flour with pandan juice and kaffir lime leaf. Knead into dough.
2. Flatten a piece, wrap around gula melaka. Roll into ball.
3. Boil until balls float. Remove and drain.
4. Roll in grated coconut. Serve immediately.

🍮 Sago Gula Melaka (Sago Pudding)

Ingredients

• 1 cup sago pearls
• 2 kaffir lime leaves
• ¾ cup gula melaka (palm sugar)
• 1 cup coconut milk, pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Boil sago in water with kaffir lime leaves until translucent.
2. Press into molds. Chill until set.
3. Melt gula melaka with a little water for syrup.
4. Unmold. Drizzle with gula melaka syrup and coconut milk.