nasi goreng

In Malay, nasi goreng means fried rice. You can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner and it’s my husband's favorite dish. Whenever I have leftover rice, I cook this dish for breakfast.

When we’re back in Romania I cannot find all the ingredients and I try to improvise, like using beet or kohlrabi leaves instead of mustard leaves.

You can add fried chicken to the rice or on the side, but I like it meatless.

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nasi goreng

makes 4 portions

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Ingredients

• 35g peanut oil or vegetable oil (not olive oil, though)

• 1 tsp roasted sesame oil (not a must, but I like the flavor)

• 2 tbsp oyster sauce, mixed with 2-3 tbsp water

• 20g garlic or 10 cloves, sliced

• 6-8 mustard leaves, roughly cut

• 6-8 green onions, the white part finely sliced and the green part cut in 4-5 cm pieces

• 1 medium carrot, grated (not a must, but I like the splashes of yellow color seen in the rice)

• 400g cooked Jasmine rice

• 1 sunny-side-up egg/portion

On the side: slices of chili covered with light soy sauce

To serve: slices of tomatoes, slices of cucumber and, instead of salt, drizzle Maggi seasoning on the eggs like the Malaysians do. Maggi seasoning is a dark brown liquid, similar to soy sauce.

For extra spiciness use Sriracha, a Thai hot chili sauce.

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Method

1. Have all the ingredients ready, ‘cause once you start cooking everything will go fast.

2. In a wok or any deep pan, heat the oil and then sauté the garlic until golden. Stir constantly to not let it burn!

3. Add the carrots, white part of the onions and the mustard leaves, stir, then add the thinned oyster sauce. Cook for a few seconds to one minute to soften the vegetables, but not too much. They are better a bit crunchy.

4. Add the leaves from the green onions and the rice and mix for a few seconds until all ingredients are combined well.

5. On a plate arrange the rice (I use a small bowl, rinse it with water, fill it with nasi goreng and put it upside down on the plate, then slowly remove the bowl), top it with a sunny-side-up egg, 2-3 slices of tomatoes and 2-3 slices of cucumber around the rice. For spiciness pour a few drops or more of the light soy sauce, which will be flavored with the chili. And if you can eat something more spicy, add slices of chili from the soy mixture.

Enjoy!

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