Nasi Goreng

Indonesian delight

I have had many wonderful trips to Indonesia on business, and I never missed a chance while I was there to eat nasi goreng which is a special type of fried rice. There are many ways to fix it and every restaurant seems to have a different version. In many restaurants, the nasi goreng is topped with a fried egg. I was also surprised to see how much the Indonesians enjoy Tabasco sauce. It gives almost a sweet taste to the nasi goreng. Here is one of my favorite recipes of nasi goreng.

Ingredients (6 servings):

• 2 cups rice (long-grained rice is preferable)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• ½ pound chicken chopped into ½ inch cubes (normally I use white meat)
• 2 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 onion peeled and chopped
• 1 celery stick, chopped
• ½ teaspoon fresh ginger grated
• 1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce (sambal oelek is the typical Indonesian hot sauce)
• ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (the Indonesians use a sweet soy sauce called Kecap manis, but I have found mixing Worcestershire and soy sauce gives a similar flavor)
• ½ tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 green peppers chopped
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• ½ pound medium shrimp peeled and deveined
• 1 carrot (optional)
• ½ pound peas (optional)
• 3 eggs scrambled diced (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper and fry in 1 tablespoon canola oil on high heat until browned. Set aside. Steam the rice in the chicken broth instead of water. In a large sauce pan on medium high heat, sauté the onion until soft (stirring to make sure it does not overcook) in 1 tablespoon canola oil. Add the celery, garlic, ginger, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce and continue to sauté for 2 minutes. (Add the carrot here if you wish to use it.) Add the green pepper and cabbage and sauté another 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and chicken and sauté another 2 minutes (add the 3 scrambled eggs here if you wish to use them). Finally, add the rice (and peas if you wish to use them) and continue to sauté until light brown. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

 
Some of the vegetables and spices that can be added.

 
Nasi goreng.