Nasi Goreng can be considered Indonesia’s national dish and is already widely available in the rest of Asia.
Almost every Bali restaurant or food stall offers this delicious Indonesian dish on the menu. You can order it from morning till late at night.
However it’s prepared differently wherever you go. For instance on Java island it looks and tastes different from the one found on Bali. Each region but also each cook prepares it in their own style.
So what is nasi goreng?
Nasi means ‘rice’ and Goreng means ‘fried’. It doesn’t mean that the entire meal is oily though, it’s more stir-fried.
You might think that it sounds like a boring dish. However you will be surprised how it can vary. It can include some satay, fried crackers called ‘krupuk’, fried egg, pieces of shredded chicken or seafood.
Just to make it look good you’ll often get some spring onions as garnishing and raw pieces of cucumber and tomato. The dish with the fried egg on top is often called Nasi Goreng Special.
One of my favorites is the Seafood version with shrimp (udang) and squid (cumi cumi) and lots of spices. You should go for it if you love seafood.
The Balinese often eat the dish in the morning because it is easily made from cooked rice left over from the evening before.
Leftovers or cold rice is the best type of rice you can use to prepare this dish as it doesn’t stick when you put it in the wok. Then add soy sauce (ketjap manis), shallots, garlic and chillies (sambal oelek). These are the basic ingredients.
Until now I have never met anyone who didn’t like this dish. Friends and family that come over to Indonesia always give it a try and some of them are hooked instantly and order it for breakfast, lunch and dinner…. Seriously, I’m not kidding.
How to prepare Nasi Goreng
Luckily nasi goreng is very simple to prepare. If you want to give it a try before you come to the Bali or you are hooked too after trying it during your holiday, all you need are the following ingredients:
350 gr. cold leftover rice
2 Tbs. Vegetable Oil
3 Eggs
1 Onion
2 Green Chillies or two teaspoons of Sambal Oelek (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 Garlic Clove
1 Leek
250 gr. chicken meat or 250 gr. mini prawns
3 Tbs. soy sauce (kecap manis)
Start with making an omelette with the three eggs, slice it into strips when ready. Heat oil in the wok or frying pan and add chopped onion, garlic, leek and chillies.
Fry for a couple of minutes before adding the sliced chicken or mini-prawns. Stir well until the chicken or prawn is cooked.
Finally add the rice and soya sauce and mix it well with the strips of omelette. For the finishing touch add some slice of cucumber, tomato and krupuk. If you haven’t added any meat to the dish you can always serve satay on the side.
Selamat Makan! (Enjoy your meal)
