Indonesian Fried Rice from ‘Lucky Rice’
Every week, Yahoo Food spotlights a cookbook that stands out from all the rest. The week’s cookbook is Lucky Rice: Stories and Recipes from Night Markets, Feasts, and Family Tables by Danielle Chang (Clarkson Potter), founder of the LUCKYRICE festival and host and creator of Lucky Chow on PBS. Read more about Yahoo Food’s Cookbook of the Week here.
Photograph by Christina Holmes
Indonesian Fried Rice
Nasi Goreng
Serves 4
Fried rice is always a crowd-pleaser, and you’ll find this famous dish everywhere in Indonesia: on tin plates at roadside stands and on fine porcelain at Jakarta dinner parties. Spiced with sweet soy sauce, shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, and chiles, and tossed with egg and chicken, this aromatic one-dish meal is actually a breakfast favorite. For added crunch, serve it with fried shallots and prawn crackers.
½ cup vegetable oil
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 4 pieces
4 shallots, halved
4 garlic cloves
1 lemongrass stalk, trimmed, bruised, and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon belacan shrimp paste
4 fresh Thai red chiles, seeds removed
2 large eggs, beaten
5 cups day-old cooked long-grain rice
¼ cup kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 fried eggs
3 scallions (green and white parts), thinly sliced
Fried shallots (optional)
Prawn crackers (optional)
Note: Fried shallots and prawn crackers can be found at Asian grocery stores.
Line a bowl with paper towels and set it aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over high heat until it is nearly smoking. Carefully add the chicken pieces and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, turning them occasionally, until they are well fried and dark brown on all sides. Transfer the chicken to the paper towel–lined bowl and let it cool. When it is cool enough to handle, shred the meat into small pieces and set aside. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the wok.
In a food processor, process the shallots, garlic, lemongrass, belacan, and Thai chiles to form a smooth paste. (If the mixture is too dry to process, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water, being careful not to over-wet it.)
Heat the reserved oil in the wok over medium heat. Add the shallot paste and fry it for 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant and darkened in color. Push the fried paste to one side of the pan, pour in the beaten eggs, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes to firm up. Break up the cooked egg and mix it with the fried paste. Add the rice and the shredded chicken to the wok and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes, mixing them with the egg. Stir in the kecap manis and soy sauce, and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes, until the ingredients are combined. Divide the rice among 4 bowls and top each serving with a fried egg, scallions, and fried shallots and prawn crackers, if using.
Reprinted with permission from Lucky Rice: Stories and Recipes from Night Markets, Feasts, and Family Tables by Danielle Chang (Clarkson Potter).
More Asian recipes to make at home:
Quick Stir-Fry with Black Rice
