Steve Jilleba, Corporate Executive Chef from Unilever Food Solutions shows us how to make Nasi Goreng, a classic Indonesian fried rice dish found throughout the archipelago.

Nasi Goreng -- literally meaning "fried rice" in Indonesian and Malay, can refer simply to fried pre-cooked rice, a meal including stir fried rice in a small amount of cooking oil or margarine, typically spiced with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), shallot, garlic, ground shrimp paste, tamarind and chilli and accompanied by other ingredients, particularly egg, chicken and prawns. There is also another kind of nasi goreng which is made with ikan asin (salted dried fish) which is also popular across Indonesia. Nasi goreng is sometimes described as Indonesian stir-fried rice, although it is also popular in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Beyond the Malay Archipelago, it has gained popularity through Indonesian influence in Sri Lanka and via Indonesian immigrant communities in Suriname and the Netherlands. It is distinguished from other Asian fried rice recipes by its aromatic, earthy and smoky flavor, owed to generous amount of caramelized sweet soy sauce and powdered shrimp paste, and the taste is stronger and spicier compared to Chinese fried rice. 

Nasi goreng has been called the national dish of Indonesia, though there are many other contenders. It can be enjoyed in simple versions from a tin plate at a roadside food stall, eaten on porcelain in restaurants, or collected from the buffet tables of Jakarta dinner parties. 

In 2011 an online poll by 35,000 people held by CNN International chose Indonesian nasi goreng as number two on their 'World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods' list after rendang. 

Ingredients

Nasi goreng is distinguished from other Asian fried rice recipes by its aromatic, earthy and smoky flavour, owed to generous amount of caramelized kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and ground powdered terasi (shrimp paste), and the flavour is stronger and spicier compared to Chinese fried rice. Nasi goreng often includes krupuk and bawang goreng (fried shallots) or (fried onions) to give a crispier texture. 

The main ingredients of nasi goreng include pre-cooked rice, sweet soy sauce, powdered terasi (shrimp paste), salt, garlic, shallot, chilli pepper, spring onions, nutmeg, turmeric, vegetable oil, onions, palm sugar, ginger garlic paste, and slices of cucumber and tomato for garnishing. Some recipes may add black pepper, fish sauce, or powdered broth as a seasoning and taste enhancer. Eggs might be mixed into fried rice or fried separately, either as telur ceplok/telur mata sapi (sunny side up eggs), or telur dadar (omelette), and also telur rebus (boiled eggs). Originally optional, the addition of fried egg is often named as nasi goreng spesial (pakai telur) or special fried rice topped with fried egg.