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Recipe

Nasi goreng

Cold steamed rice fried with base genep, sweet soy, and lime leaf. The wok rice from the Petulu class, distinct from steamed nasi kuning.

All recipes·Serves 2 to 3 servings·Prep 15 minutes·Cook 10 minutes

A guest stir-frying at a wok in a village kitchen

Nasi goreng is fried rice. In this kitchen it starts with cold steamed rice and fried base genep, not with a bottled seasoning. Nasi kuning is the other rice: steamed with turmeric and coconut milk, never fried. A class day does one or the other. Fried rice is only for grains that have already cooled.

Rice that has just been cooked clumps and steams in the wok. Rice that has cooled, uncovered, fries grain by grain.

Ingredients

  • 400g cold steamed jasmine rice, grains separated
  • 2 tablespoons fried base genep
  • 2 shallots, sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon kecap manis
  • 1 teaspoon palm sugar
  • 2 lime leaves, sliced into threads
  • Salt, only if the rice still needs it
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • Sambal matah and cucumber, to serve

Method

  1. Heat the coconut oil in a wok until it shimmers. Fry the shallot and garlic until they soften.
  2. Add the fried base genep and stir for a minute so it fries again in the oil, rather than steaming.
  3. Add the rice and break up any clumps with the edge of the spatula. Toss until the grains are hot and coated.
  4. Add kecap manis, palm sugar, and lime leaf. Toss until the color is even. Taste before you add salt. Sweet soy is already salty.
  5. Serve at once with sambal matah. Fried rice that waits under a lid sweats and turns heavy.

The wok work is the part guests do themselves after the paste is already fried. Serve it with sambal matah. If you would rather steam the rice with coconut and turmeric, follow the nasi kuning method instead. The ride out for a morning that includes this wok is the same short trip from central Ubud.