Indonesian recipe
How to make Nasi goreng
All over Indonesia, shaped by Chinese stir-frying
Fried rice, the everyday dish of Indonesia. Cooked rice (often from the day before) is stir-fried with shallots, garlic, chilli and kecap manis, a thick, sweet soy sauce, and topped with a fried egg, crispy fried shallots, cucumber and prawn crackers. People eat it for breakfast, lunch or a late supper from a street cart.
Ingredients
- 400 g cooked long-grain rice, cold (cooked the day before, cooled within an hour and kept covered in the fridge)
- 3 shallots and 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped (more or less to taste)
- 1 teaspoon shrimp paste (optional)
- 2 tablespoons kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and 1 teaspoon salty soy sauce
- 150 g chicken breast or peeled prawns, cut small
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 2 eggs
- To serve: cucumber and tomato slices, crispy fried shallots and prawn crackers
Method
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok or large frying pan. Fry the shallots, garlic, chilli and shrimp paste for 2 minutes, until soft and fragrant.
- Add the chicken or prawns and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes, until cooked through.
- Add the rice and break up any lumps. Stir in the kecap manis and soy sauce and stir-fry over high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until the rice is hot and evenly coloured.
- In a separate pan, fry the eggs in the rest of the oil. Cook them until the white is set and the yolk is as firm as you like; for pregnant women, young children, older people or anyone with a weak immune system, cook the yolk until firm.
- Serve the rice with a fried egg on top, with cucumber, tomato, fried shallots and prawn crackers on the side.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
Kecap manis, the sweet soy sauce that gives nasi goreng its dark colour, was developed in Indonesia by adding plenty of local palm sugar to soy sauce.
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