Nasi Goreng | Indonesian Chicken Fried Rice

Nasi Goreng or fried rice is considered the national dish of Indonesia and so you will find this dish served in restaurants of all stature, be it street side or a 5 star! This fried rice is prepared with leftover rice and leftover chicken or beef and served with a fried egg (sunny side up) for breakfast.

There is no dearth of Indonesian recipes online, a quick search of "Indonesian Cuisine" on Google will land you in an ocean that will leave you confused about what to try first because every dish is so unique! Though I made Nasi Goreng, my first choice was Rendang and the Telur Pindang.

Nasi Goreng | Indonesian Chicken Fried Rice

Time for #mfbchallenge! This time we were asked to cook anything from the land of Indonesia because they hold almost 13% of the world's Muslim population! Now that is reason enough for Muslim Food Bloggers Challenge! India is right behind them at 10% and Saudi Arabia close to 2% only 🙂 Want to check where your country stands? Click here.

The one factor that distinguishes Nasi Goreng from other fried rice dishes is the use of Kecap Manis, sweet soy sauce and Terasi, shrimp paste. The sweet soy sauce adds a dark brown tinge to the rice and chicken. And not so traditional but practised is the use of Fried Shallots as a garnish that I and F believe takes this fried rice up a notch. But don't go away thinking you don't have kecap manis or shrimp paste... I found the best substitute for it!

Like every dish, there are so many versions of Nasi Goreng too! I looked for shrimp paste but luckily didn't find it. 🙂 Lucky because I wasn't sure if we will like it. And for the Kecap Manis, the Nagi, the author had provided a make-at-home version!

So, I first prepared some rice the previous day and refrigerated it. The next day I started by preparing the sweet soy sauce and then the fried shallots. Took a break and prepared the chicken. Just before lunchtime, prepared Nasi goreng / fried rice. This way, you have everything ready well ahead and not panicking!

The recipe is adapted from Nagi's RecipeTin Eats.

Nasi Goreng | Indonesian Chicken Fried Rice

Yields: For 2 foodies

INGREDIENTS

Homemade Kecap Manis Substitute: (sweet soy sauce)
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup brown sugar

Chicken
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
2 chicken breasts, halved horizontally and diced into bite-size chunks (~250gms)

1 tablespoon prepared sweet soy sauce

Rice
1 tablespoon oil
2 to 3 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
2 teaspoon chilli flakes or 2 to 3 Thai chilli or 2 dried red chillies, chopped finely
1 medium onion, diced
3 to 4 cups cooked rice, cooled, refrigerated overnight
3 tablespoon sweet soy sauce (remaining after preparing chicken)Garnishes
eggs, 1 per person
Fried shallots (chop a handful of small onion or shallots and deep fry them until crispy)
tomato and lemon slices
spring onions

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare the Sweet Soy Sauce:

Combine the soy sauce and brown sugar in a small deep saucepot over medium heat.
Bring to a boil and let the mixture reduce to a consistency that is not too watery nor too thick.
It will boil over if the flame is high so maintain a low flame and simmer to a thick consistency. Remember, the mixture will thicken more while it cools.
Use as instructed in the recipe

Prepare the Fried Shallots:
This is highly recommended. Make as much as you like. I have used a handful of small onions/shallots. Slice the shallots or onions very thinly and deep fry in hot oil on a medium flame until the borders start to brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a kitchen towel. It will continue to cook and become brown.

Saute the Chicken:

Heat oil in a thick-bottomed pan over high heat.
Drizzle the prepared sweet soy sauce over the chicken and mix well so every piece is coated with the sauce
Cook the chicken chunks turning them frequently until browned on all sides and cooked through. Remove and keep aside

Add the Rice

Heat oil in the same pan over high heat.
Add the minced garlic and red chilli and cook until the garlic starts to brown.
Add the diced onions and cook until translucent.
Add the refrigerated rice and the remaining sweet soy sauce
Toss and fold in the rice taking care not to overdo and break the grains. Toss until all the rice becomes brown colour as it gets heated through the sweet soy sauce.
Stir in the prepared chicken
Transfer Nasi Goreng to a serving platter.
Prepare sunny side up eggs as per your liking
Serve the rice with a fried egg on top with tomatoes and lemon on the side and sprinkle some fried shallots.
Relish each spoon of sweet and spicy hot rice with a crunch of fried shallots!

I had this plate of Nasi Goreng in the pictures for my lunch on a weekday and kept aside F's portion for his dinner. I sent him the pictures luring him to come home for lunch but he couldn't make it. At dinner time, I re-heated by sauteing the rice on high flame for a couple of minutes and served it to him while I had oatmeal. 🙁 He had quite a few questions before taking his first spoon, "What makes it brown?", "Is it sweet rice?" "Does it taste fishy?" "did you add shrimp paste?" I just said EAT, because I wasn't mentally strong to have oatmeal while a bowl of fried rice sits opposite! Just before he wiped clean, he asked me if I want some and I shamelessly scooped a spoonful and said, I like to end with a savoury note. 😀