Sweet, smoky and spicy. Nasi Goreng is a classic Indonesian and Malaysian fried rice dish that packs in loads of flavour! This is a special take on fried rice. This dish does require a couple of special ingredients, but they can all be bough online and are well worth having! If you like this then you should try some of my other similar recipes, such as my mee goreng or egg fried rice recipes.

What is Nasi Goreng?

Nasi Goreng is a Southeast Asian fried rice dish. It originated in Indonesia, and took heavy inspiration from Chinese style cooking. This is common of a number of Southeast Asian countries and cooking techniques. The expansion of Chinese immigration and trade along the silk road during the Tang dynasty saw a large expansion of Chinese influence around the region.

With them, Chinese settlers and merchants brought influences such as the wok, stir frying and soy sauce. These have all been adopted and adapted since in various countries to create a range of fabulous dishes! This is a great article if you’d like to read more.

In Indonesia this lead to nasi goreng but importantly also lead to one of it’s most crucial components, kecap manis. This is a regional variety of soy sauce, sweetened with palm sugar. It is darker and thicker than regular soy sauce, and has a deep and sweet flavour from the generous addition of palm sugar. It is a delicious seasoning and it is really essential for a lot of Indonesian cooking.

My Recipe

My recipe starts with a homemade spice pace. I make this from a range of aromatic vegetables to create a base of flavour that goes a long way. I start with garlic, ginger, fresh turmeric root and galangal. Galangal is a root, similar to ginger. It is hard and woody and has a unique flavour that can’t be replicated. If you cannot find it fresh, you should be able to find it in jars online. I then add some fresh chilli and shallots, along with some salt to help grind it. I finally add a shrimp paste called belacan or terasi. These are Malaysian and Indonesian shrimp pastes that add so much umaminess, and really are essential.

Aside from the paste, I add a sauce to the rice at the end. This is made from kecap manis and regular soy sauce. I like to add some sambal oelek too for heat, but this is optional.

I make my nasi goreng with chicken thighs and green beans. The chicken is dices and I cut the beans up into small pieces. To start I fry off the spice past in a hot wok for 30 seconds or so then add the chicken. Once the chicken has lost it’s pink colour, I go in with the beans too. After another 30 seconds to one minute, I add the rice. Once this has fried for another minute or two, I add the sauce and let it caramelise slightly. The rice is now ready to serve!

As with any fried rice, you should use day old rice. This is dry and fries nicely. If you don’t have any, you should try to cook the rice in advance and spread it out on a tray to dry off for an hour or so.

Nasi Goreng – Sweet & Savoury Fried Rice

Sweet, smoky and spicy. Nasi Goreng is a classic Indonesian and Malaysian fried rice dish that packs in loads of flavour! This is a special take on fried rice.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 2 people

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian, Indonesian, Malaysian

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

For the Spice Paste

• 1 piece Ginger 2cm long
• 1 piece Galangal 2cm long
• 1 piece Turmeric 1cm long
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 2 Red Chillis
• 0.5 Shallot
• 1 tsp Shrimp Paste Belacan or Terasi

For the Sauce

• 3 tbsp Kecap Manis
• 1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
• 2 tsp Sambal Oelek Optional

For the Rice

• 400 g Cooked Rice
• 400 g Chicken Thighs
• 80 g Green Beans

To Garnish

• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tomato
• 0.25 Cucumber
• 1 Shallot

Method

 

1. Add all the paste ingredients to a pstle and mortar or blender and make a smooth paste.
2. Julienne the shallot for garnish and heat a small pan to medium high. Add a generous amount of oil and add the shallots. Fry and keep stirring until they are golden brown all over and crispy. Remove and spread out on a paper towel to drain. Keep the pan hot and the oil in it.
3. Dice the chicken thichs into 1-2cm chunks. Slice the green beans into thin rounds.
4. Heat a wok over high heat and add oil. Add the spice paste and cook off for 3 seconds or so stirring vigorously.
5. Add the chicken and mix well. Stir fry until the pink has left the outside of the chicken and add the sliced beans.
6. Stir fry for another minute and add the rice. Break it up with the spoon and mix well. Stir fry for another minute or so to fry the rice.
7. Add the sauce and mix well. Stir fry for another minute to let the sauce caramelise and reduce the heat to low.
8. crack the eggs to the pan you fried the shallots in. Fry until brow and crispy on the botton. Splash some of the oil over if needed to cook the top, but try to keep the yolk unny. Keep the rice stirring occasionally in the meantime to prevent it burning.
9. Serve the rice in a bowl with slices of the tomato and cucumber. Lay a fried egg over it and garnish with the crispy shallots!