What is Nasi Goreng

According to Wikipedia ... Nasi Goreng, literally means "fried rice" in Indonesian and Malay, can refer simply to fried pre-cooked rice, a meal including stir fried rice in a small amount of cooking oil or margarine, typically spiced with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), shallot, garlic, ground shrimp paste, tamarind and chilli and accompanied by other ingredients, particularly egg, chicken and prawns.

There is also another kind of nasi goreng which is made with ikan asin (salted dried fish) which is also popular across Indonesia. Nasi goreng is sometimes described as Indonesian stir-fried rice, although it is also popular in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Beyond the Malay Archipelago, it has gained popularity through Indonesian influence in Sri Lanka and via Indonesian immigrant communities in Suriname and the Netherlands. It is distinguished from other Asian fried rice recipes by its aromatic, earthy and smoky flavor, owed to generous amount of caramelized sweet soy sauce and powdered shrimp paste, and the taste is stronger and spicier compared to Chinese fried rice.

Nasi goreng has been called the national dish of Indonesia, although there are many other contenders.

It can be enjoyed in simple versions from a tin plate at a roadside food stall, eaten on porcelain in restaurants, or collected from the buffet tables of Jakarta dinner parties.

In 2011 an online poll by 35,000 people held by CNN International chose Indonesian nasi goreng as the number two of their 'World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods' list after rendang (spicy meat) of Padang, West Sumatra.

Popularity

Nasi goreng is simple and easily adopted by foreigners (westerners) who have to get used to spicy oriental foods when traveling in Asia. Back in the nineties there was an expat from Australia that I used to work with and he would order nasi goreng everyday at the restaurant during lunch break. In 2003 another expat from the US had exactly the same every day for lunch.

Initially nasi goreng to Indonesian is treated as a must-be-present food in the morning, and you will always find a nasi goreng served in the hotel for breakfast. But nowadays it has become anytime of the day food.