Indonesian Fried Rice: Nasi Goreng

This can simply be used as a side dish, but it is often served with fried eggs, tomatoes and cucumbers for a meal of its own.

 

This dish darkens the rice, so don't think you've done something wrong. For this article, I made the rice without other ingredients like shrimp, chicken or beef, which are sometimes added by Indonesians. This dish uses long grain rice (it has less starch), as you don't want the rice to clump together; thus, basmati rice is a good choice (short grain rice usually has a good deal of starch, which makes it stick together). As is often the case with recipes from other cultures, this dish has 3 special ingredients, one of which is very common (sambal oelek), with the other two being available in numerous supermarkets or in Asian grocery stores, or online. Sambal oelek is a relish or paste of ground red chilies. In the U.S., it is easy to find in supermarkets, and likely even in some smaller grocery stores, and especially Asian grocery stores, as sambal oelek is also made in the U.S., although there are imported brands too (it is not terribly expensive, although imported brands likely cost somewhat more). Sambal oelek is hot, but you aren't using much for the amount of rice and other ingredients, but if you're especially fearful of hot foods, just use 1/2 tablespoon, instead of 1 tablespoon. If you use sambal terasi (see special ingredient #3, below), you won't need sambal oelek. If you don't want to buy it, you can simply use a finely chopped hot chili pepper or two as a substitute. 

 

The second special ingredient, kecap manis, is an Indonesian dark sweet thick soy sauce, unlike what we would most likely think of as typical soy sauce. I use it quite often, and it comes in taller bottles than regular soy sauce. It too is available in some (most?) supermarkets and Asian grocery stores, but you can mix together some regular soy sauce and molasses or brown sugar as a substitute, but the real thing is far better, and I think most people will like it; so much so, that they'll buy it again.

 

The third special ingredient is shrimp paste, which is made from fermented dried shrimp. I suggest buying sambal terasi, which is ground chilies and with shrimp paste added (it comes in relatively small jars (like 6 to 8 ounces, see photo below), and it is from Indonesia, although Indonesians use other types of shrimp paste too). If you use sambal terasi, you can skip using sambal oelek, as sambal terasi has the ground chilies in it. The easiest thing to do, although it is not traditional for this dish, is to use fish sauce, which is easy to find in supermarkets and Asian stores.

 

Just a little information about shrimp paste: it can vary in form from country to country, and it is most commonly used from the Philippines and around through Southeast Asia and in southern China. There are various types and names for it, but it is made of fermented dried shrimp. Now, I had read about shrimp paste, and many of the comments about it centered on the smell it gives off when it is frying, as it often comes in a dried block, from which a certain amount is trimmed and then fried briefly (this dried type is commonly used in Malaysia, where it is called "belacan"). Well, Randy grew up eating and liking Limburger cheese, so I figured I could handle shrimp paste, and I did, but to say it is "smelly," doesn't begin to describe it. The funny thing is, you only use a very small amount, but it will stink up your house or apartment for an hour or so, perhaps prompting your neighbors to call the police to report that you must have stashed a dead body in your house several weeks ago. I actually watched some videos of people who smelled shrimp paste, and some said it was the worst thing they had ever smelled, BUT, when they ate shrimp paste in a finished recipe, they said how good it was. They were right, because it tastes nothing like it smells, as a small amount of shrimp paste delivers a special savory taste to recipes.     

 

Ingredients (4 lunch servings):

 

3 cups cooked long-grain rice, cooled, chilled (leftover rice from the day before is excellent)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon sambal oelek (hot ground chilies) or 1 tablespoon sambal terasi instead

2 tablespoons kecap manis (thick sweet soy sauce) 

if you don't use sambal terasi, use 1 tablespoon fish sauce

1/2 teaspoon black or white ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt (can be less or even omitted)

eggs, fried (sunny side up)

tomatoes, sliced or grape tomatoes halved

cucumber, sliced (peeled, unpeeled or partially peeled)

 

If using dried block-type shrimp paste, add the 1/2 teaspoon to a small skillet (no oil) over low heat and toast it for about 2 minutes, breaking it up as it toasts. If you use the dried shrimp paste, you will still need to add sambal oelek or fresh chilies.

If you use sambal terasi, you can add it directly to the recipe, without frying it, and you will NOT need to add sambal oelek or fresh chilies, unless you like super hot food.

If you use fish sauce, it can be added directly to the recipe, and you will still need to add sambal oelek or fresh chilies, but you won't need any shrimp paste or sambal terasi.

 

In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat; saute the onion, garlic and sambal oelek (or chilies, or sambal terasi) for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking or burning, then add the kecap manis (and shrimp paste, if using), fish sauce, then the already cooked rice. Sprinkle on the ground pepper and salt (if using), mix all together well, making sure the rice grains separate and get coated with the flavorings. Cook and stir until the rice is well heated and begins to caramelize. 

Top each serving with a fried egg (sunny side up). Serve with sliced or chopped tomatoes and sliced cucumber on the side.  

 

WORD HISTORY:

Meager-This is a word that English has had twice. It is related to "emaciate," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from that language, and to "macro-," the prefix, which was borrowed from French, which had it from Latin, which had it from Greek. "Meager" goes back to Indo European "mak," which meant "thin, lean," and the extended form "makros," meaning "long, tall, thin, slim." This gave Old Germanic "magraz" meaning "lean, thin," and this gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "mæger" meaning "lean, slim, slender." This word either died out in English or it was taken over by the new form or merged into it (continue reading). The Indo European form also gave Latin the adjective "macer" meaning "thin, lean," and this passed to Latin-based Old French as "megre/maigre" with the same meaning, and English borrowed the word in the 1300s, initially as "megre" (also "meigre?"). The additional meaning of "scant/scanty" was added later. The direct relatives of the original Old English word "mæger" and the more distant relative to the modern English form via Indo European are German, Low German and Dutch "mager," West Frisian "meager" (meger?), Icelandic "magur," Danish, Norwegian, Swedish "mager," all with the general meanings "thin, lean, skinny."