Worldfoods Fusion of Flavours Challenge 4: Indonesian Nasi Goreng

We've cooked Pad Thai from Thailand, Ayam Percik from Malaysia and Tom Yum (also from Thailand). And now it's time for the fourth Worldfoods challenge... Nasi Goreng from Indonesia.

Nasi Goreng is a traditional Indonesian dish of fried rice, seasoned with spices and usually includes vegetables, prawns and chicken. An authentic Nasi Goreng also has eggy omelette ribbons strewn over the top. I made mine with chicken, because I just wasn't in the mood for prawns that day - and adapted the recipe to make a dish for one. The thing about the Worldfood sauces that I've tried so far (including this one) is that because each jar comes with a few meals' worth of sauce or paste, you can just scoop out enough for one without any fuss, leaving some for another day!

I've made a little step by step video below and you'll see how easy it all really is. And I made mine with a video camera in one hand.

Nasi Goreng with Chicken

(serves one, generously)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons Worldfoods Nasi Goreng paste
• 1 boneless and skinless chicken thigh, shredded thinly
• couple of handfuls cooked rice
• 1 spring onion, chopped (including the green bits)
• 1 small mild chilli, de-seeded and sliced finely

Method

1. Bring a pan of slightly salted water to the boil and cook the rice. Drain, rinse under a cold tap and leave to one side. (You can cook the rice the day before if you wish but remember to keep it refrigerated).
2. Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok and make an omelette with the beaten egg. Flip over, cook the other side and tip out onto a chopping board set to one side.
3. Heat another tablespoon of the oil in the wok and spoon in two tablespoons of the Nasi Goreng paste. Stir on a medium heat until it becomes fragrant (about 1 minute).
4. Tip in the shredded raw chicken and stir fry in the paste until the chicken is cooked.
5. Add the cooked rice and stir fry until the rice is heated through and coated in the reddish paste.
6. Transfer to a bowl, before scattering with the omelette, spring onions and chopped chilli.

The Taste
The dish was spicy - not really 'hot' but it  had a definite chilli tingle to it. It also tasted more aromatic than the other sauces and pastes I've tried so far - almost similar to Chinese food. The shredded egg omelette gave the finished dish sweetness and cooled the heat of the spicy rice. The chicken - because it was thigh meat and cooked quickly - was still very juicy and succulent. And the spring onion and red chilli gave it crunch and colour. It's a good job I have some of this paste left, because I plan to make more of this. I think this is my favourite of the Worldfoods sauces I've tried so far. I also think it would be good with cooked noodles stir-fried into it instead of rice. When I've tried it I'll report back!