Easy Indonesian Fried Rice (Bumbu Nasi Goreng)
"I bought a jar of Kokita brand Nasi Goreng seasoning at the Uwajimaya store in Seattle and it made the best fried rice I had ever eaten. After scraping the last bits from the side of the jar, I didn't want to make the hour drive just for more (although it was tempting), so I improvised based on the ingredients. If you can find it, I highly suggest buying the pre-made product as it makes preparation very simple. After eating Indonesian fried rice I haven't been able to go back to making the more popular Chinese version. What makes this different than Chinese rice is the prominence of chili rather than soy sauce. Shallots, smaller and milder than the onion, are a pleasant addition. I like to add a lot of chili and use fish sauce as the source of saltiness. Many recipes call for shrimp paste, I haven't tried it and think it's just fine without since the fish sauce adds a seafood taste. There are other posted recipes for this dish, but this one is simpler and the eggs can be cooked right in with the rice. This is also great as a vegetarian (even vegan) dish, just omit the shrimp and use fried tofu instead of egg and use soy instead of fish sauce. Warning: this may be spicy for those with more delicate palates."
photo by dianegrapegrower
- Ready In:
- 20mins
- Ingredients:
- 8
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 3 -4 cups cooked rice, cooled (any kind, I like Jasmine)
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil (preferred) or 3 tablespoons other vegetable oil
- 1 -2 1 -2 tablespoon other se Asian chili sauce or 1 -2 tablespoon chili paste, i imagine sriracha would work alright.
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 4 shallots, chopped
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 1⁄2 tablespoons fish sauce or 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1⁄2 lb peeled raw shrimp (optional)
directions
- Pre-heat a wok or large skillet over medium heat, add the oil and, once heated, add the garlic, shallots, chili relish and (if using them) shrimp; Cook the shrimp until pink on one side, flip once and pull them out when done (3-5 minutes total).
- Once the shallots start to become soft add rice, eliminating any clumps, stir frequently for about three minutes.
- Make a small hole in the center of the rice, pour in the eggs and scramble, incorporating them into the rice gradually as you stir.
- Drizzle in soy or fish sauce, stirring to ensure even dissipation; More sauce or salt may be added at this point to taste; Rice should be thoroughly heated through.
- Top with cooked shrimp; traditionally this is served with fresh cucumber and tomatoes.
- Extras: (sorry for the semi-colons instead of periods, recipezaar's auto format makes each sentence into a seperate step-- something I did not want) It may not be traditional, but I like to add broccoli, deep fried tofu (available at Asian markets and many grocery stores, try to get small cubes), frozen peas and green onion to my rice; If you choose to do so, cut broccoli and fried tofu into small pieces; Add approximately 2/3 cup each of broccoli and peas at the same time you add the garlic, etc and stir fry.
- If the vegetables have absorbed a lot of the oil, more may be necessary before adding rice; Add 2/3 cup fried tofu and sliced green onion with the rice; If you do this it might be easier to cook shrimp separately or leave them in the pan rather than removing (if you aren't picky about done-ness); In fact, any number of vegetables and/or meats may be added; For raw meat, cut into small pieces and add in step 1, after it's cooked proceed to 2, if cooked add it at the end; For added spice (I know these additions are getting exhaustive) add diced chili pepper at step 1.
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Reviews
-
Tasty! Used jasmine rice and sriracha. Added green peas, omitted the shrimp. -
Deliciuos! I used to live in Jakarta, Indonesia and this was almost as good as Nasri's Nasi Goreng (our family cook in Jakarta). -
Superior fried rice. I had to adjust the quantity of chili paste downward as I'm a chili wimp but I loved that slow burn, the bright colors and slight crunch of the vegetables and the richness of the egg. I see no reason why this couldn't be adapted to use the vegetables and fish you have on hand or just prefer. This was truly a pleasure, Yamakawa. Thank you.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I like food very much but, being a bachelor, am into simple and fairly quick (less than an hour) foods. This doesn't mean I like poor quality or junk food. This also doesn't mean that I won't cook longer or more complex dishes, but I think others in the same position will recognize that sense of futility one gets when cooking for him or her self a meal that should be shared with a group (or girlfriend, poor me (that's sarcasm, and an example of my overused parenthesis)). For this reason potlucks (which were common at my school) and holidays with friends are quite enjoyable. I consider instant rice, dehydrated mashed potatoes and pancake mix to be poor substitutes considering that the real products are fairly easy to make (ok, I've been known to use pancake mix, but I'm trying to change). Also, I can't understand why you would use instant or canned gravy if you're cooking a whole bird. Don't take any of this pretentious sounding talk to mean that I'm an excellent cook. I'm probably sub-par, but am quite proud of coming up with my own recipes or using a cook book to get the structural elements of something down (cook times, temperatures, etc.) then altering it and adding my own ingedients. Unfortunately I haven't been writing these down, even when they turn out well, and have only just started to document my successes.
My infatuation with food is really a fairly recent development and after looking at all of these recipes I fear I'm liable to become a glutton (luckily this hasn't happened yet). Also my mother was vegan and now I feel that I like meat perhaps a little too much, which in this town can be something you might feel slightly guilty about. Is it odd to see a goose fly overhead and wonder what it tastes like?
Such a long description is rediculous for someone who will probably only post a couple of recipes, isn't it? That's an English major for you. Oh, I forgot to mention that I learned most of my cooking from my father. He grew up in Hawaii, although his ancestry is Japanese. My mother's a decent cook but I lived with my father from the ages of 15 to 18 and consequently picked up more from him. I also didn't really like a lot of vegan foods when I was a teen-ager.
