Learn to make the base of any Indonesian Nasi Goreng(fried rice)with this recipe. Add a mix of your favorite meat or seafood and you have a restaurant-worthy dish made and served at home.

Raise your hand if you love a spicy Nasi goreng full of strong flavors that hits the spot and makes you want to go,”oh yum!” while wondering if you can make it at home.

Your usual take-out joint where you buy this dish makes it look like a complex and difficult dish to create at home when it’s not. really, you can actually make a better version of this Indonesian dish. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to make.

Although I’ve named it as an Indonesian Nasi goreng, it’s a popular dish in many South Asian countries with slight variations to make it unique to their own country but Nasi goreng is a type of fried rice and that means if you’ve got the key ingredients that give it that distinct flavor then you can just about add any of your favorite components into your Nasi goreng dish.

This is one of the main reasons I am not calling this recipe traditional or authentic because this recipe is THE BASE for any type of Nasi goreng you’ll make.

The Basic/ Essentials for a restaurant worthy Nasi goreng.

If you’ve ever wondered what gives the distinct flavor and color to this Indonesian fried rice and makes it different to any of your usual chinese fried rice you’ve had so far.

The taste that makes this different is basically two main ingredients that you’ll need to buy, think of it as expanding your pantry of essentials but I guarantee you they won’t go in waste as they have a long shelf life and can come in handy in many of the Asian dishes you’ll want to make.

So let’s talk about these ingredients first.

1/Terasi(shrimp paste)- this is fermented shrimp paste. Because of its pungent and strong smell, it should be used sparingly. By this I mean, the shrimp paste can easily overtake the dish so be very careful on how much you add.

2/Kecap manis(sweet soy sauce)–  a thick. sweet soy sauce used in many Indonesian dishes, the taste and thickness of the liquid is slightly similar to Hoisin sauce but different due to the Palm Sugar in Kecap manis.

While Terasi is a must buy for Nasi Goreng, you can substitute the Sweet soy sauce with a mix of regular soy sauce and brown Sugar which I’ll show you how in the recipe.

 

 Once you’ve learnt to make the base Nasi goreng recipe, customize it to add chicken, eggs, a bit of Prawns to add variety to the dish.

Please make sure to read the recipe instructions carefully to avoid mistakes.

Indonesian style-20 minute Nasi goreng (Base recipe)

Here are a few tips to make a better dish.

1/ Always use left-over rice or rice that has been cooked the previous night and refrigerated.

2/ I’ve mentioned earlier that you need to be careful in using Terasi as it has a strong flavor and smell so while using it if you find that there isn’t enough of the terasi and sweet soy sauce flavor coming through for your personal taste. here’s a simple trick you can do to add more of these two ingredients.

Once you mix in the rice and realize that you need more flavor, turn the heat down and move the rice aside so the bottom of the wok is visible, add another 1/2 teaspoon of Terasi, crush and toast it.

Mix in 1 teaspoon of Soy sauce with 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, pour it over the Terasi and mix well. you’ll probably have to do this the first time but once you know the correct amount you’ll have no need to do this every single time you make Nasi goreng at home.

When should I add the chicken or seafood to this base Nasi goreng recipe?

You can add these on the fourth step where you sauté the Onions, Ginger with the shrimp paste and cook them for 2-5 minutes.

Serving for 5-6

Ingredients

Making substitute Kecap manis(sweet soy sauce).

In a small bow, mix a tablespoon soy sauce with 1 tablespoon brown sugar and set aside until further use.

2 tablespoons of Oil

2 tablespoons of minced Garlic

1 large Onion sliced fine

1-2 red chilli sliced or 1 tablespoon red chilli flecks

1/2 -1 teaspoon toasted Terasi ( the use of this shrimp paste will vary upon the amount of rice you add as I’m making this for 6 individuals, I had to use close to 2 teaspoons as I wanted the taste of it to come through for a milder taste or less rice you can use 1/2 teaspoon)

3 cups of cooked rice( overnight)

2-3 tablespoons of oil

Salt to season

1 fried egg

Method

Take out the refrigerated rice and leave it to out for a few minutes.

Place the pan(preferably a wok) you are going to use to cook the Nasi Goreng over low heat.

Add the Terasi, crush and leave it to toast for 1 minute over the heat.

Once the Terasi is mildly toasted, add oil and sauté Garlic, Onion, red chilli for 2-3 minutes until they are soft. include chicken or seafood at this stage and cook between 2-5 minutes.

Mix for 1 minute until all ingredients are incorporated on medium heat, cook until the oil slightly separates

Pour in the substitute mix of Soy sauce and brown sugar to the pan and mix for 2 minutes under medium heat.

Mix all the ingredients until you have the rice well coated and taste to make sure you get that distinct Nasi goreng flavor.

Follow the tip of adding more flavor mentioned in notes if you need to add more terasi once the rice has been added.

Serve warm with a fried egg topping off the rice and with fresh Cucumber and Tomato slices