When I was a teacher ages ago and lived alone, I would cook enough food to make up 2 meals a day – one for dinner and the rest to bring with me to school for lunch since school food was inedible. Somehow, I would always end up cooking more rice than I needed each day.

Being Chinese, I prefer my rice to be freshly cooked so what I did was to store the left over rice in an air tight container in the fridge. Then, on every Saturday, I used the left over rice to cook fried rice. I have cooked so many types of fried rice over the years like this, this, this and this, just to name a few. 

So, yet again, I had some rice in the fridge yesterday and I wanted to cook something different this time.

The LAM is amused at how each time we visited a resort in Indonesia, or Malaysia, for that matter, I would order the same item for lunch every single day. I love their Nasi Goreng Istimewa so, so much! It’s got a bit of everything – rice, egg, vegetables, chicken, satay, acar, and prawn crackers. Best of all is the sambal belacan that comes with the rice. Super good!

So today I cooked an Indonesian Nasi Goreng. 

This is a totally versatile dish because you can change the protein – I used chicken, but you can use any other meat or even seafood that you like, as well as the vegetables. I added shredded carrots, cabbage and bean sprouts, but you can use any combination of vegetables, even frozen ones, so it is a fabulous way to get rid of any left over items in your fridge!

As with most fried rice, you will need to prep the ingredients ahead of time since the actual cooking process is so quick. I prefer to use over-night rice, but if you don’t have any and develop a sudden craving for nasi goreng, by all means use freshly cooked rice.

Here are the instructions on how to cook this dish.

In a skillet or wok, heat vegetable oil and sesame oil. Add shallots and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes.

Add the minced garlic and cook for a further 30 seconds.

Add ground ginger, turmeric and cumin and stir for about a minute, or until you can smell the spices.

Add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes. The chicken should be cooked through.

Add the rice, kecap manis, light soy sauce and sambal oelek. Stir until well-combined and also to break up the rice. If your rice is a little clumpy because it has been sitting in the fridge, use your fingers to scatter some water over the rice. This will dampen the rice and break it up. If your rice is too hard because it has been kept in the fridge for a few days, place a lid over the skillet and cook for about 2 minutes to soften the rice.

Finally, add the vegetables and stir until the vegetables have wilted. I like a little crunch in my vegetables so I cooked this for about 3-4 minutes but if you want everything soft, cook (and stir) for a longer time.

Check and adjust the seasonings if needed. 

Before serving, top the rice with chopped spring onion, coriander and squeeze some lime juice over the rice. If you wish, you can also add a fried egg or omelette to this.

This is best served hot, either by itself, or (better) with crispy ikan bilis and peanuts, acar and grilled chicken like I did here, and with loads of sambal belacan, of course!

Easy Indonesian Nasi Goreng

2016-01-08 07:09:18

Serves 4

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Ingredients

1. 1 tablespoon (15ml) vegetable oil
2. 1 teaspoon (5ml) sesame oil
3. 5-6 shallots, thinly sliced
4. 2 garlic cloves, minced
5. ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
6. ¼ teaspoon turmeric
7. ½ teaspoon cumin
8. 1 piece chicken breast, diced
9. 2 cups basmati rice, cooked
10. 2 teaspoon sambal oelek
11. 2 teaspoon light soy sauce
12. 2 teaspoon kecap manis
13. ¼ cup (15g) carrot, shredded
14. ¼ cup (25g) bean sprouts
15. ¼ cup (25g) cabbage, shredded
16. 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
17. 2 spring onions, sliced
18. 1-2 eggs - I omitted this
19. ¼ cup peanuts - I use the same quantity of fried ikan bilis and peanuts
20. ½ lime, juiced
21. sambal belacan (optional)

Instructions

1. In a skillet or wok, heat vegetable oil and sesame oil. Add shallots and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes.
2. Add the minced garlic and cook for a further 30 seconds.
3. Add ground ginger, turmeric and cumin and stir for about a minute, or until you can smell the spices.
4. Add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes. The chicken should be cooked through.
5. Add the rice, kecap manis, light soy sauce and sambal oelek. Stir until well-combined and to break up the rice.
6. Finally, add the vegetables and stir until the vegetables have wilted. I like a little crunch in my vegetables so I cooked for about 3-4 minutes but if you want everything soft, cook (and stir) for a longer time.
7. Check and adjust the seasonings if needed.
8. Before serving, top the rice with chopped spring onion, coriander and squeeze some lime juice over the rice. If you wish, you can also add a fried egg or omelette to this.
9. This is best served hot, either by itself, or (better) with crispy ikan bilis and peanuts, acar and grilled chicken like I did here, and with loads of sambal belacan,

Notes

1. If your rice is a little clumpy because they have been sitting in the fridge, use your fingers to scatter some water over the rice. This will dampen the rice and break them up. If your rice is too hard because it has been kept in the fridge for a few days, place a lid over the skillet and cook for about 2 minutes to soften the rice.

By Diana Gale

Adapted from Vikalinka

Adapted from Vikalinka

The Domestic Goddess Wannabe https://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com/