Nasi Goreng. Delicious rice stir fried in a savory, tangy sauce with aromatics and spam with a crispy fried egg on top. A delicious main dish ready in 30 minutes!
Jump to:
What is Nasi Goreng?
Nasi Goreng features fried rice stir fried with sweet soy sauce, tamarind concentrate, tomato paste, fish sauce, sugar and sesame oil with spam and aromatics. It's a traditional dish that originates from Indonesia usually served with a crispy fried egg on top, crispy shallots, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. It is a sweet, savoury, and smoky fried rice that can be spicy if you add red chilis into the fried rice. It’s very aromatic and absolutely delicious when lime juice is squeezed over top.
Nasi Goreng is staple food that is very popular in South East Asian and sold by street vendors served with prawn crackers or shrimp crackers. Different from your Chinese fried rice recipe, thanks to the sweet tart flavors from the tomato paste and tamarind pulp. I love making this dish as it brings me back to my travels to South East Asia. It's a great weeknight meal for the whole family to enjoy as it comes together fairly quickly.
Ingredients
Please scroll down to recipe card for full measurements.
Note: Your Asian grocery store will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients.
- Neutral oil: like vegetable oil, avocado oil or any scentless oil with a high smoke point.
- Shallots or sub with onion
- Spam or ham: either of these will work but I recommend spam if you enjoy its flavor profile. If not, ham will work. For a healthier alternative, feel free to substitute with sliced chicken thighs, ground pork or beef. For a vegetarian version, omit any animal-based protein as well as the fish sauce.
- Cooked jasmine rice: I recommend using day old jasmine rice for the long-grain rice texture in this Indonesian fried rice dish. Day old cold cooked rice or leftover rice is the key to making fluffy fried rice. Avoid using short grain or medium grain rice.
- Garlic
- Eggs: runny fried eggs cooked sunny side up are key to this popular Indonesian fried rice. If you prefer your eggs cooked through versus runny fried egg, please feel free to cook them though. You may also cook with beaten egg if you prefer them that way and add them to the fried rice after.
Stir Fry Sauce
- Sesame oil: this offers a nutty flavor to this nasi goreng recipe.
- Brown sugar, cane sugar, or palm sugar: any of these will work but for an environmentally friendly option, brown or cane sugar will work fine. The Indonesian version uses palm sugar.
- Dark soy sauce: This is different from normal soy sauce and light soy sauce because it's a thick soy sauce dark in color.
- Sweet soy sauce aka Kecap manis (pronounced as 'ketjap manis": this is an Indonesian sweet soy sauce that is thick, sweet and dark in color. This Indonesian soy sauce is commonly used in Indonesian cuisine and Southeast Asia. The use of Kecap manis is meant to help to color the day-old rice and give it a sweet salty taste.
- Fish sauce: this will give our fried rice savory flavors since we're not using Indonesian shrimp paste. For a vegetarian version, replace this with more dark soy sauce or regular soy sauce.
- Tomato paste: aka tomato purée or tomato sauce. This is the distinguishing feature of nasi goreng in my opinion as not many fried-rice variations include this ingredient.
- Tamarind pulp mixed with hot water: Another iconic feature to this common dish. The tamarind pulp offers a sweet tartness to the fried rice.
Toppings
- Fried crispy shallots
- Cucumber slices
- Tomato wedges
- Red chilli
- Green onions
- Lime
- Optional: for added spice, feel free to add your favorite spice paste or chili sauce such as sambal oelek. I share a recipe for Sambal Oelek here. This condiment will make any spicy fried rice super spicy and delicious!
How to make Nasi Goreng
Create Tamarind Concentrate
In a small bowl, mix tamarind paste and 2 tablespoon hot boiling water. Mash the paste up until it becomes a thick liquid. Remove and discard the pulp by running it through a fine sieve reserving the concentrate you created. Mix this into the stir fry sauce.
Prepare Stir Fry Sauce
In another small bowl, combine stir-fry sauce ingredients as listed and add the tamarind concentrate. Set aside.
Make Crispy Shallots
To make the crispy shallots: In a hot wok or large pan on low-medium heat, add only 2 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Heat oil and then toss in one sliced shallot. Fry until they become browned and crispy on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a small bowl leaving the remaining oil in the pan.
Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a small bowl leaving the remaining oil in the pan.
Stir Fry Aromatics & Spam
Raise heat to medium high heat and add in the remaining shallot, spam and garlic. Stir fry for about 3 minutes until spam is slightly browned.
Toss in Rice
Add in day-old cooked rice and break apart. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes until it begins to steam.
Add Sauce
Pour in sauce and give it a good stir fry. Once rice is thoroughly covered in sauce, immediately remove and transfer to a serving plate. Do not overcook. Keep warm by covering it.
Fry Crispy Egg
Clean wok or pan. On medium-high heat, add remaining vegetable oil. Crack first egg into a bowl and slide the egg into the hot oil to shallow fry until you get crispy edges. The egg yolk should be runny. Repeat this process for remaining eggs. Transfer over fried rice.
Serve & Garnish
Serve fried rice with sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, red chili, green onion, fried shallots and limes. Enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
This dish will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, microwave for 2-3 minutes or reheat on the stovetop in a pan on medium heat until hot.
Expert Tips
- Use day old cold rice. When you combine soft cooked warm rice with the sauce, it will go sticky and soggy even on low heat.
- Jasmine rice over short grain rice. Short grain rice is not recommended as it proves to become very sticky when stir fried.
- Use fresh vegetables for the toppings. They make a big difference!
- Prepare all your ingredients in advance. This way you can easily toss them into the large frying pan.
- Once the rice is combined with the sauce, remove off heat! Remove and transfer to a serving plate immediately.
- Fry the egg in a clean pan. This prevents the fried egg from sticking to any leftover rice that may be stuck to the pan.
FAQ
What do you eat nasi goreng with?
You can eat it with fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, fried egg, fried shallots, spring onions, red chili with lime juice squeezed over top. Sometimes this dish is served with peanuts too.
What's the difference between nasi goreng and fried rice?
The difference is that Nasi Goreng traditionally uses Kecap Manis (sweet soy sauce) and shrimp paste or anchovies. Fried rice on the other hand uses regular soy sauce (sometimes not even depending on the type of fried rice), which is not sweet.
What is nasi goreng paste made of?
My version is made of tomato paste, Kecap Manis (sweet soy sauce), dark soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, homemade tamarind concentrate, and garlic.
How do I substitute kecap manis?
I would recommend substituting it with the same amount of (2 tbsp) dark soy sauce and mixing in 2 tablespoon of brown sugar for this recipe specifically.
Other recipes you may like!
- Kimchi Sausage Fried Rice
- Thai Spicy Basil Fried Rice
- Shrimp Fried Rice
- Chinese Chicken Fried Rice
- Tomato Egg Fried Rice
📖 Recipe
Easy Nasi Goreng
Ingredients
Fried Rice
- 500 grams cooked jasmine rice day old
- 170 grams spam diced (or sub with ham, sliced chicken, ground beef or pork)
- 3 eggs
- 1 shallot finely sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3-5 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Stir Fry Sauce:
- 2 tablespoon Kecap Manis (If you don't have this ingredient, substitute with 2 tablespoon dark soy sauce with 2 tablespoon brown sugar)
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoon brown sugar or cane sugar/palm sugar
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce or shrimp paste
- 11 grams tamarind pulp
Toppings:
- 1 shallot thinly sliced
- 1 cucumber sliced
- 2 tomatoes sliced into wedges
- 1 red chili pepper sliced
- 2 green onions finely sliced
- 1 lime sliced into quarters
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix tamarind paste and 2 tablespoon hot boiling water. Mash the paste up until it becomes a thick liquid. Remove and discard the pulp by running it through a fine sieve reserving the concentrate you created.
- In another small bowl, combine stir-fry sauce ingredients as listed and add the tamarind concentrate. Set aside.
- To make the crispy shallots: In a hot wok or large pan on low-medium heat, add only 2 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Heat oil and then toss in one sliced shallot. Fry until they become browned and crispy on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a small bowl leaving the remaining oil in the pan.
- Raise heat to medium high heat and add in the remaining shallot, spam and garlic. Stir fry for about 3 minutes until spam is slightly browned.
- Add in day-old cooked rice and break apart. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes until it begins to steam.
- Pour in sauce and give it a good stir fry. Once rice is thoroughly covered in sauce, immediately remove and transfer to a serving plate. Do not overcook. Keep warm by covering it.
- Clean wok or pan. On medium-high heat, add remaining vegetable oil. Crack first egg into a bowl and slide the egg into the hot oil to shallow fry until you get crispy edges. The egg yolk should be runny. Repeat this process for remaining eggs. Transfer over fried rice.
- Serve fried rice with sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, red chili, green onion, crispy shallots and limes. Enjoy!
Suggested Equipment & Products
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Michelle | Sift & Simmer
Mmm spam makes everything taste better! Looks delish Christie!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
That beautiful fried egg on top and those fresh veggies make this dish so irresistible... and that was such a smart tip to use day old cold rice!