Recipe for nasi goreng, traditional Indonesian fried rice
Referred to as one of Indonesia's national dishes, nasi goreng is an iconic recipe in Indonesian cuisine. It is also found a lot in Malaysia and Singapore. Translated as ‘fried rice’, it is characterized by its sauce cooked with kecap manis sauce, soy sauce, chili puree and shrimp paste. Discover the authentic nasi goreng recipe to take your taste buds on a journey!
Ingredients for 4 persons :
- 300 g of rice
- 5 eggs
- 3 onions
- Vegetables: carrots, Chinese cabbage, spinach shoots, broccoli, peppers…
- 4 tablespoons of kecap manis
- 4 teaspoons of soy sauce
- Vegetable oil
- Salt pepper
For the spice paste:
- 2 shallots
- 4 cloves of garlic
- Shrimp paste (terasi)
- 2 tbsp. tablespoon of pepper puree (sambal olek)
For the service :
- 2/3 tomatoes
- ½ cucumber
- A handful of fried shallots
Preparation time: 30 min
Cooking time: 10 mins
Steps for preparing nasi goreng:
Start by cooking the rice in a pressure cooker or in a pot of boiling water. When it is cooked (it must be al dente and crunchy because it will fry later), drain it, run it under cold water and set aside in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
Peel, degerm and chop the garlic. Peel and finely chop the onions and shallots. Wash, peel and slice the vegetables into very thin strips or small pieces.
Prepare the spice paste: in a mortar or salad bowl, mix the shallots, garlic, shrimp paste (terasi), chili pepper and 2 tbsp. tablespoon of vegetable oil. Salt, pepper and pound everything until you obtain a more or less smooth consistency. If you wish and to save time, you can also use a blender.
In a wok over high heat, brown the onions in oil. When they have a nice yellow color, add the spice paste and cook for 2 to 3 minutes while stirring to prevent it from burning. Reduce and adjust the heat if necessary. Add the vegetables and fry them for a few minutes. They should remain crunchy.
Add the rice while fluffing it, then the kecap manis sauce, the soy sauce and brown everything over high heat for 5 to 6 minutes. Stir regularly and season with salt and pepper. At the same time, cook the eggs to obtain 4 fried eggs.
Wash, cut and slice the tomatoes and cucumber. Make rice balls using a bowl, place them on the plates and place the fried eggs on each one. Sprinkle with fried shallots and accompany the nasi goreng with 2 or 3 slices of tomatoes and cucumber on the side of the plates. For those who want, you can place small containers of kecap manis sauce, soy sauce and chili sauce on the table.
Good to know :
FYI, eggs can be cooked like fried eggs and added when plating or can be directly incorporated into fried rice like scrambled eggs.
If the traditional recipe for nasi goreng is intended to be almost vegetarian (there is still shrimp paste), it is also available in other versions such as nasi goreng ayam (with chicken), nasi goreng sapi (with beef), nasi goreng udang (with shrimp), nasi goreng seafood (with seafood)... While most of the time, we find a sauce based on kecap manis, some Indonesians instead use tomato sauce (nasi goreng merah) as is the case in the east of the archipelago in Sulawesi or the Moluccas.