This is from my favorite Asian cookbook - "The Complete Asian Cookbook" by Charmaine Solomon. She covers cooking from India to Japan - which is a lot of ground. So she isn't too complete in any one country, but gives a good base to learn the cuisines. I have been quite happy with all the recipes I have tried from this book.
When I was a girl my family went to Great Britain by ship; It was a lovely trip; we children had a great time running around the ship, and the parents had a rest from watching us. Where could we go? Overboard, perhaps - but all the crew and most of the passengers were very aware of where we were. And the nicest part was the food. It was a ship from the Holland-America Line, so we often got Indonesian food, and I really loved the Nasi goreng, and also the fried noodles - Mie goreng.
Nasi goreng - (6-8 servings)
3 eggs
salt and pepper
Oil for frying (I use coconut oil)
8 oz raw prawns - shelled and de-veined (cut small if desired - I usually keep a couple/per serving whole as a garnish)
1 lb pork or lean beef - sliced into fine strips
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic
4 cups cold cooked rice
6 green onions, thinly sliced
2 Tbls. soy sauce
Beat the eggs with salt and pepper. Heat some oil in wok or frying pan, and pour in half the eggs; allow to set, like a mini omelet, but don't fold. Turn out onto a plate, and repeat with the remaining egg. Turn out on top of the first omelet, and roll up both layers together. Cut into thin strips, and reserve as garnish.
Chop the onions roughly, and put in a blender with the garlic; blend till finely chopped (or just chop finely with a knife).
Heat 2-3 Tbls oil in a pan/wok , and fry the onion mixture till soft. Add prawns and meat, and cook, stirring constantly, till cooked. Add 2 more Tbls of oil, and add the rice and green onions, tossing and mixing thoroughly until very hot. Sprinkle with soy sauce, and mix evenly.
Garnishes make the Indonesian meal - serve the rice with small dishes containing (some or all): the sliced egg omelet; more sliced green onion; some thinly sliced or julienned cucumber; peanuts; coconut (or, better, some peanuts that have been fried for a bit [dry, or with just a touch of oil] with some coconut thrown in); some fried onion and garlic slices (easy - dried onion or garlic slices, thrown in a bit of hot oil [maybe before frying the omelet], and fished out almost immediately when they are slightly browned and crisp). To add spice see if you can find some Indonesian pepper sauce (sambal ulek/oelek, or one of the other sambals - often available in Asian groceries or on line; lacking these, some other sort of hot pepper sauce would be fine).
Nasi goreng is usually just a part of a larger meal, but we often serve it on its own. It can be quite substantial. One could easily add more veggies - peas, carrots, etc - or other meats (or none)
If your Asian market has Indonesian groceries you might look for kroepek (possibly krupek, or maybe shrimp crackers) - we loved these as children on the ship. You might find them already fried up, but its better to look for the unfried ones (consider the difference between fresh popcorn and already popped) You pop these little wafers into hot oil, and they puff up beautifully, and get wonderfully crisp. I like to do this before I start the rest of the dish, serving the crackers as an appetizer. Then I pour off the extra oil, and proceed. In Amsterdam we had nasi goreng with some of these shrimp crackers broken up and scattered over as a garnish.
Enjoy!
When I was a girl my family went to Great Britain by ship; It was a lovely trip; we children had a great time running around the ship, and the parents had a rest from watching us. Where could we go? Overboard, perhaps - but all the crew and most of the passengers were very aware of where we were. And the nicest part was the food. It was a ship from the Holland-America Line, so we often got Indonesian food, and I really loved the Nasi goreng, and also the fried noodles - Mie goreng.
Nasi goreng - (6-8 servings)
3 eggs
salt and pepper
Oil for frying (I use coconut oil)
8 oz raw prawns - shelled and de-veined (cut small if desired - I usually keep a couple/per serving whole as a garnish)
1 lb pork or lean beef - sliced into fine strips
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic
4 cups cold cooked rice
6 green onions, thinly sliced
2 Tbls. soy sauce
Beat the eggs with salt and pepper. Heat some oil in wok or frying pan, and pour in half the eggs; allow to set, like a mini omelet, but don't fold. Turn out onto a plate, and repeat with the remaining egg. Turn out on top of the first omelet, and roll up both layers together. Cut into thin strips, and reserve as garnish.
Chop the onions roughly, and put in a blender with the garlic; blend till finely chopped (or just chop finely with a knife).
Heat 2-3 Tbls oil in a pan/wok , and fry the onion mixture till soft. Add prawns and meat, and cook, stirring constantly, till cooked. Add 2 more Tbls of oil, and add the rice and green onions, tossing and mixing thoroughly until very hot. Sprinkle with soy sauce, and mix evenly.
Garnishes make the Indonesian meal - serve the rice with small dishes containing (some or all): the sliced egg omelet; more sliced green onion; some thinly sliced or julienned cucumber; peanuts; coconut (or, better, some peanuts that have been fried for a bit [dry, or with just a touch of oil] with some coconut thrown in); some fried onion and garlic slices (easy - dried onion or garlic slices, thrown in a bit of hot oil [maybe before frying the omelet], and fished out almost immediately when they are slightly browned and crisp). To add spice see if you can find some Indonesian pepper sauce (sambal ulek/oelek, or one of the other sambals - often available in Asian groceries or on line; lacking these, some other sort of hot pepper sauce would be fine).
Nasi goreng is usually just a part of a larger meal, but we often serve it on its own. It can be quite substantial. One could easily add more veggies - peas, carrots, etc - or other meats (or none)
If your Asian market has Indonesian groceries you might look for kroepek (possibly krupek, or maybe shrimp crackers) - we loved these as children on the ship. You might find them already fried up, but its better to look for the unfried ones (consider the difference between fresh popcorn and already popped) You pop these little wafers into hot oil, and they puff up beautifully, and get wonderfully crisp. I like to do this before I start the rest of the dish, serving the crackers as an appetizer. Then I pour off the extra oil, and proceed. In Amsterdam we had nasi goreng with some of these shrimp crackers broken up and scattered over as a garnish.
Enjoy!
