The first time I had Nasi Goreng, or Indonesian fried rice, was when I was living in Australia. Funny that although I grew up in Bangkok, just a stone’s throw away from Indonesia, I never had this until I moved outside the region. While Nasi Goreng is arguably a national dish in Indonesia, it is also widely made and enjoyed all over southern parts of South East Asia (i.e. Malaysia, Singapore, even southernmost tip of Thailand). Fortunately for me, Indonesian and Malaysian food was ubiquitous in Australia and I’ve discovered many favorites ever since (Laksa, anyone?), so more recipes coming soon. 😉
In the meantime, we’ll start with this easy one 😀
If you are a fried rice fan, you’ll know that there’s many variations to fried rice, depending on which culture it derives from, and even then the combination of ingredients and ingredient amounts are never the same. While most fried rice use soy sauce (Chinese style) or fish sauce (Thai style), Nasi Goreng’s defining ingredient is sweet black soy, also known as kecap manis. This is a unique soy sauce that is rich, thick, and sweet – more sweet than salty. This is what gives Nasi Goreng its dark brown color and a complex “sweet” in the sweet-savory flavor profile. To balance this, you will need to add either traditional soy sauce or fish sauce to inject the salty element that would otherwise be missing.
Another notable salty ingredient that is worth talking about here is shrimp paste, which is used to also impart salty-umami notes in the dish. This ingredient is not for the weak – it is a paste made from shrimp or krill that has been salted, fermented and pulverized into a paste, and is a strong pungent assault on the olfactory. Unless you grew up with it, you may find the aroma overly offensive (kind of like Vegemite or Marmite to those who aren’t used to it). While shrimp paste is a common ingredient in many South East Asian dishes, you can leave it out in this recipe if you want – just make sure you account for the saltiness some other way like adding a little more soy sauce or fish sauce.
Other than that, there is no single defined recipe for Nasi Goreng so there is a lot of flexibility. There’s no better nearly-foolproof dish to try at home, especially if you have extra cooked rice leftover from your last Chinese takeout meal. So see what’s in your fridge, chop it up, and give it a try!
Nasi Goreng
Ingredients
Stir fry Sauce
- 2 tbsp dark sweet soy, also known as kecap manis
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp chicken stock powder or bouillon
Chicken Quick Marinade
- 2 tsp sweet dark soy
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp pepper
Fried Rice
- 2 cups cooked rice (cold), see notes
- 1 cup chicken (chopped into small bite size pieces), see notes
- 1/2 cup onion, minced
- 1/3 cup chilies (optional), see notes
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 2-3 stalks green onions (chopped), separate white parts from the green
- 1/2 tsp shrimp paste (optional), see notes
- 2-3 eggs, for crispy fried eggs
Condiments to serve (optional)
- sambal oelek
- fried shallots
How I Make It
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and combine with sweet dark soy, fish sauce, and pepper and leave to marinade for about 15-30 minutes. In the meantime, chop the remaining vegetable ingredients (onion, garlic, chilies).
- Combine your stir-fry sauces and set aside.
- In a wok or a large pan, heat oil and sitr fry onion and chilies until fragrant. Add garlic and green onions and continue to sitr fry.
- Push vegetables to one side of the pan and cook the chicken. If using any other proteins (such as chinese sausage), add it now. Add cooked rice and toss everything together.
- If using shrimp paste, push everything aside and add a little oil. Put the shrimp paste in and add the sauce mixture to dissolve the shrimp paste; then mix everything through. If not using shrimp paste, skip this step; but you may want to add a little fish sauce to account for the saltiness that shrimp paste brings.
- When everything is tossed through, you are ready to serve! Top with the green parts of the green onions, fried shallots, and/or crispy fried egg. Serve with a side of chili sauce such as sambal oelek.
Crispy Fried Egg Topping (optional)
- In a deep bottom pan (like a wok), heat vegetable oil. You are basically deep-frying the egg, so make sure you are using enough oil. Test the oil temperature using a wooden spoon. Oil is ready when bubbles form around wooden spoon when you stick it in the oil.
- Fry the egg, one at a time. Drop (or crack) an egg in the oil. It should fluff up immediately. Spoon oil onto the top of the egg continuously to cook the top side. When the edges are browned and crispy, and the egg is cooked to your liking, remove the egg and drain on a paper towel until ready to use.
Notes
- Cold day old rice works best as it is usually very dry. But if you need to use newly cooked rice, make sure it's made a little dry and don't overcrowd your pan or wok otherwise your rice will end up wet and mushy.
- This recipe uses chicken but you can use any kind of protein you like including shrimp, sweet Chinese sausage, etc.
- Shrimp paste is salty and pungent and adds an umami element to the dish. If you don't have this, or don't want to use, you can substitute with 1-2 tsp of fish sauce.
- You don't have to add chilies if you don't want to but it adds a nice color (and heat! for those who like it). If you don't want heat, use mild chilies like bell pepper, Anaheim pepper, or spur chilies. If you like it hotter, add Thai chilies, fresh arbol chilies, serranos, jalapeño, etc.
