Nasi Goreng - The Street Food Wonder From Indonesia
In the best of Asian cuisine, Nasi Goreng has a distinctive identity of its own. This delicacy from Indonesia, with a tag of country’s ‘national dish’ attached to it, has an earthy flavor with an aroma which is slightly different than other assortments of fried rice in the realm of Pan Asian cusine.
The all pervasive meal of Indonesia can be eaten as breakfast, lunch, or dinner. As street food, it is served on tin plates, fancy restaurants in urban Jakarta present it exquisitely on porcelain. Seldom can anyone find Nasi Goreng missing from the buffet tables of any dinner parties thrown by the elite.
Although Nasi Goreng does share few similarities with other fried rice recipes in the Pan Asian region, the flavoring is typical Indonesian. In fact, culinary experts trace its origins to Southern Chinese fried rice. As a way to avoid wasting cooked rice, stir frying techniques using Chines wok were adapted by Indonesians.
They made their own variant of soya sauce, adding local palm sugar into it, and turning it into a sweet soya sauce. The end result was an Indonesian version of fried rice called Nasi Goreng, which literally means fried rice.
The best results of Nasi Goreng are obtained using one-day old refrigerated cooked rice. The moisture content being greater in fresh rice will turn the rice soggy after it is blended with spices and fried.
Using old rice, it gets a caramelized texture after its stir fried, and the end result a scrumptious tasting Nasi Goreng.
It can be served with fish or prawns,and with a yellow-side-up half fried egg.
Nasi Goreng owes its popularity due to its versatility as a simple staple that is common to all Indonesian households. There is no rigid or exact recipe, allowing chefs the flexibility to present their own innovative version of Nasi Goreng.
Here’s a chef’s version, if you wish to experiment the adventures of cooking :
Tips -
If you have all the ingredients handy, Nasi Goreng should be ready in 10 to 20 minutes, depending on your cooking skills.
Sourcing Sweet Soya Sauce can be challenging if you’re not living in Indonesia, a good replacement would be the Light Soy Sauce.
Being a street food specialty, it takes street vendors less than 5 minutes to serve customers in Indonesia, speed is the essence of Nasi Goreng, for amateur cooks it should take under 20-minutes.
Make sure to stir the ingredients constantly to prevent them from getting burnt.
Setup all the ingredients in the order listed below.
Ingredients:
3 Cups Cooked Rice
300g Fresh Prawns
⅓ Cup Spring Onions, finely chopped Scallions/Green onions)
⅓ Cup French Beans, chopped
3 Thai Red Chilies, finely chopped
1 Cup Bean Sprouts
1 Cup Carrots, Julienne
2 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped
1 tbsp Sweet Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Egg, Lightly Beaten + 1 egg. Yellow Side Up
Salt and Pepper To Taste
Cooking Steps:
- Heat a wok/saucepan over high heat.
-Add the sesame oil and whirl around the wok/pan until it spreads completely.
-Add the prawns and stir fry till the prawns are cooked well.
-Add spring onions, red chilies and garlic, stir fry for 1 minute.
-Add the french beans, bean sprouts and carrots and stir fry for an additional minute.
- Move the vegetables and prawns to one side of the wok and quickly add in the beaten egg to the other side.
- Stir around the egg until its cooked.
-Add the rice, sauces, salt and pepper.
-Stir fry and toss for 30 more seconds.
-Serve with the yellow-side-up egg and prawn crackers.
Nasi Goreng should be ready to serve.
At Mayfair, Nasi Goreng is one of our specialties, the chef, a connisuer in Pan Asian cusine, lends his personal touch maintaining the true flavors of the dish, cooked in restaraunt style and served with prawns, this delicious fare is unique, something that you will never regret eating.
To order online click here.
