Nasi Goreng

I am going to feature dishes from various Asian countries on Veggie Zest. The reason behind it is nothing more than my personal liking for Asian food. Of course some countries have more vegetarian friendly food to offer than others…but I will try to either pick a vegetarian dish or alter a regular dish and make it vegetarian. Today’s recipe is Nasi Goreng - a very famous street food dish from Indonesia.

This recipe is very similar to a fried rice but with some different sauces and flavors. Its a super duper quick recipe and is best enjoyed as soon as your a done making it. Nasi Goreng is generally made with seafood but I am sure if in Indonesia or at an Indonesian restaurant you could request them to skip any kind of meat or seafood. While making your own at home you can totally add whatever veggies you like. I added carrots, snow peas and broccoli but since it is a street food a more authentic recipe would call for cheaper veggies like carrots, green peas etc. An addition of some pan fried tofu should taste pretty great as well.

The recipe calls for two special ingredients - Kecap Manis (sweet soy sauce) and Sambal Oelek (chili paste). Both of these should be easily available at an Asian grocery store if not then Sambal can be substituted with a chili paste or sriracha — just as 2 to 3 tsp of vinegar to it. If you cant find kecap manis then you can make your own with the recipe I have posted below. This is a great dish for a quick lunch or dinner and can be made in bulk to feed a big group. The egg makes it more hearty but if you don’t like then it can be skipped completely.

Serving 2 large bowls

Cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups cooked plain rice

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 small red chili, finely chopped (optional)

1 medium red onion, sliced

1 scallion, thinly sliced

1 carrot, diced

handful of chopped snap peas or green peas

couple florets of broccoli, chopped (optional)

3 eggs

3 tbsp Kecap Manis or sweet soy sauce (see recipe below)

2 tbsp Sambal Oelek

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp fried onions

salt

1. Steam or partly boil carrots, peas and broccoli till they turn soft. Keep aside.
2. In a wok heat oil on medium heat.
3. Add onions, garlic and chili. Stir fry till the onion start tuning pink.
4. Add sambal sauce and stir to mix well.
5. Crack an egg into the wok and scramble it with a spoon.
6. Once the egg is cooked add rice and stir.
7. Add the veggies, salt and soy sauce. Stir thoroughly till all the rice grains & veggies are covered with the sauces evenly.
8. Serve the rice topped with a fried egg and sprinkled with fried onions and scallions.

For Kecap Manis

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp brown sugar

Combine all ingredients in a deep saucepan and heat over medium heat for about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Store in an airtight container.