After all, the stall behind this fiery invention – Five Sisters Nasi Lemak – dishes out 500 plates over five hours. On most nights, the nasi lemak, served with fluffy basmati rice, a juicy and tender chicken leg, and of course their signature sambal, sells out fast.
“I’m not doing much marketing because of this. I’m scared the queue will get longer!” Vinothini Devi Subramaniam, the third among the five sisters, shared with FMT Lifestyle. “We cannot make more than this because the stall is really small and we don’t have the manpower.”
Certified by Forbes World Record as the world’s spiciest nasi lemak sambal, Devi, 32, and her sisters blend Carolina Reapers, Ghost Peppers, and Teja chillies to whip up their killer sambal.
“My older sister is the sambal expert here. It was trial and error many times before she came up with this recipe,” said Devi.
The sambal comes in three levels of spiciness: Level 1 is child-friendly, Level 2 turns up the heat, and Level 3 is the fiercest of them all.
“One of my customers fainted. He then said it’s spicy but delicious and he’ll come back again. He’s now one of my frequent customers!” Devi mentioned.
Level 3 clocks a cumulative heat value of over 41 million Scoville Heat Units – which is another way of saying it is over-the-top spicy.
In fact, customers are required to sign a consent form before consuming it, a safeguard for the stall, but one which adds a dash of thrill to the experience. But the real question is: why create something this extreme?
“To tell you the truth, I did this for income, for survival,” Devi admitted. “The success is purely coincidental.”
Two days before sitting for her SPM examination, her father, a humble factory worker, passed away. He had wanted her to become a doctor. To honour him, she pushed through her exams and emerged as one of the top scorers in her class. Then reality set in.
Living off her late father’s Socso contributions, the family soon realised money was tight. They had to act to keep the family afloat.
Devi tried her hand at other food businesses that also went viral, but they were shut down by local authorities due to licensing issues.
After dropping out of A-level law because of financial constraints, Devi switched to business studies and was just five points shy of topping her class. “I tried multiple businesses. Still, we didn’t have enough money for the family,” she said.
For one final push – once again banking on virality – Devi created her now-famous sambal. “If this doesn’t work, we all have to find other jobs. So, thank God I succeeded!” Devi enthused, adding that they now have enough money to send their two younger sisters to college next month.
But just as things seemed to stabilise, misfortune struck again.
Despite the long queues and nightly sell-outs, Devi revealed that the kopitiam’s landlord has sold the building, and she has been given until Feb 25 to vacate the premises.
“So, I’m looking for a good-hearted investor. Come and join me to offer this stall to a restaurant,” said Devi.
Meanwhile, the sisters are already working on launching a product online to expand their reach. “I hope that I will be a successful TikTok seller,” said Devi.
Five Sisters Nasi Lemak
New Lucky Restaurant
2, Jalan Radin Anum 1
Bandar Baru Sri Petaling
57000 Kuala Lumpur
Business hours: 5pm-11pm (Thursday-Sunday)
Contact: 011-2076 3190
For location, click here.