Nasi Goreng

To unwind from a stressful week we had the Ardetas and the Gomezes (where my friends Malou and Jeng, respectively, reign queens ) over for a potluck dinner-videoke party last night. Malou brought Donna Mae's Lechon Manok (roast chicken) while Jeng brought Pancit Molo soup, where the molo was especially flown in from Iloilo, with matching garlic bread toast. (Both were superstars by the way. The Donna Mae Lechon Manok was a revelation; I'd dare say it was better than Andok's.)

To round up the meal I made Asuhos Tempura, Mustasa Greens Salad and Nasi Goreng. Mike served up some chilled reds (Jacob's Creek Merlot and later, a Trivento Malbec). For the kids and everyone else, 'twas Red Iced Tea. :)

Note that cold rice, preferably cooked at least 5 hours before frying, is better for any fried rice dish. This is because cold rice is less sticky and will not get soggy from frying. So for the recipe below, be sure to pre-cook the rice hours or the day before.

NASI GORENG (Indonesian Fried Rice)

What's In It?

• 10 cups cold, cooked rice
• 3 T cooking oil
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 100 g. ground pork
• 100 g. shrimps, diced
• 6 shallots, peeled and sliced
• 1 Shrimp broth cube
• 2 T brown sugar, dissolved in
• 4 T light soy sauce
• 1 T tomato paste
• 2 T hot sauce or 2 chilis, seeded and sliced (optional)
• 5 stalks spring onion, chopped, for garnish
  

Kitchen Conjugations:

Heat oil in a large wok. Pour in beaten egg and swirl to spread it thinly across the surface of the wok (like making a thin omelette). Remove omelette from wok. Shred into strips.

Saute the onions and garlic, then add the ground pork, stirring once in a while until the pork is cooked (after about three minutes). Add in the shrimp, stir fry for one minute, then add in the seasonings (shrimp cube, soy sauce with sugar and soy sauce). Allow to simmer for half a minute, then add in rice. Toss to allow the seasonings to coat the grains, stir-frying for about a minute.

Transfer onto a serving dish and garnish with the shredded omelette and spring onions.

Notes:

1) The original recipe calls for 1) Kecap Manis, or sweet soy sauce and 2) Trassi (dried shrimp paste). Since I don't have them I substituted with the light soy sauce and sugar mixture, and the shrimp broth cube. :)

2) For a more festive touch, you can add garnishings: tomato wedges, cucumber slices and kropeck (shrimp crackers).

3) You can substitute the ground pork with pork or chicken strips.