Roundtable: Nasi Goreng

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David Rubel's

What's For Dinner?

10/13/04
Nasi Goreng
(serves two parents and two children)

This untraditional recipe for a traditional Indonesian dish comes from Anna Dibble, who gave us Anna's Rice and Beans (now in the What's for Dinner recipe archive). Nasi goreng is typically made in a wok, but Anna advises me that a large frying pan will also do. Note that, as with all stir-fries, most of the work is in the preparation. Don't heat that pan until you're ready!
The Stir-Fry

1 1/2 c basmati rice

1 small onion

3 cloves garlic

1 red pepper

1 medium skinless, boneless chicken breast half (about 1/2 lb)

12 medium shrimp (about 1/2 lb)

1 bunch cilantro

1/2 c unsalted peanuts

1 European-style seedless cucumber

1 Tbs rice vinegar

1 Tbs sugar

pinch of salt

7 Tbs peanut oil

2 tsp ground cumin
The Coconut Sauce

1 14-ounce can coconut milk

1 tsp (or more) red or green curry paste

2 Tbs brown sugar

juice of one lime
1. Boil 3 cups of water in a saucepan over high heat. Add the rice, and return the water to a boil. Reduce the flame to low, cover the pan, and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. Refrigerate overnight or until chilled.
2. Mince the onion and garlic. Julienne the red pepper. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Peel the shrimp. Coarsely chop the cilantro. Crush the peanuts.
3.Slice the cucumber thinly. Toss with the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Let marinate.
4. Make the coconut sauce by combining the ingredients in a small bowl and whisking them together.
5. Heat the wok over a high flame until it starts to smoke. Add 3 Tbs of the peanut oil, and let it come to temperature. Stir-fry the onion, garlic, red pepper, and cumin until the onions soften, about 1 minute. Remove to a bowl.
6. Reheat the wok, and add another 3 Tbs of peanut oil. Stir-fry the chicken and shrimp until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove to the bowl with the vegetables.
7. Reheat the wok again, and add the remaining 1 Tbs of peanut oil. Toss the refrigerated rice in the wok until the rice has warmed up. Then add back the meat and vegetables, and continue tossing until combined and well heated.
8. Serve with the cilantro, peanuts, marinated cucumber, and coconut sauce.
Tips
* The European-style cucumbers are the long ones typically sold wrapped in plastic. They aren't waxed and have few seeds, so you needn't bother to peel or seed them. You can also use two regular cucumbers for this dish, but they need to be peeled if store-bought, and they should be seeded as well. The easiest way to do this is to cut them in half lengthwise and use a teaspoon to scrape out the seed channel.
* Anna recommends also adding the zest of the lime to the coconut sauce, which is easily done if (as Anna and I do) you have a Microplane grater.
* Anna further encourages experimentation. "This is an artist's amalgamation of many nasi goreng recipes I've fiddled with over the years," she writes. "Feel free to vary the vegetables or meats, depending on what you happen to have in the kitchen. The whole idea is to have fun playing with ingredients each time you make it."
* Sometimes Anna cooks a couple of beaten eggs in the wok to make a little omelet. She then slices the omelet into strips and uses the strips as an additional garnish.

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If you have tried one of these recipes and have an improvement or tip or variation to suggest, please e-mail David at dinner@wamc.org. Also feel free to send along your own family cuisine recipes. You can even request dishes that you'd like David to present in the future.
David Rubel is president of Agincourt Press, a book production company in Chatham, New York. He spends his days writing American history, then heads home after work to cook for his wife and two young children. His most recent book is The Story of America (DK, 2002).