Nasi Goreng

Ingredients

• 300 g rice, cooked and cooled overnight
• 300 g chicken thighs, diced
• 150 g raw prawns
• 2 tbsp sambal oelek
• 4 shallots, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 3 tbsp kecap manis
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, for frying
• 5 spring onions, sliced
• 1/2 cucumber, sliced, to serve

Method

1. Use cold rice

   The rice must be cooked the day before and thoroughly chilled. Fresh rice is too wet and steams into a sticky lump the moment it hits the wok — there is no way around this.

2. Fry the paste

   Pound or blend the shallots, garlic, shrimp paste and sambal, then fry the paste in the oil over a medium heat until it darkens and smells sweet rather than raw. This takes a few minutes and it is the backbone of the dish.

   5 min

3. Protein on high

   Turn the heat up, add the chicken and cook until coloured, then the prawns for a minute.

   5 min

4. Rice in, and leave it

   Add the cold rice, breaking up the clumps with your hands as it goes in, and the kecap manis. Spread it out and let it sit against the metal in between tosses — you want a few toasted, slightly crunchy grains.

   5 min

5. Top with a fried egg

   Fry the eggs hard in plenty of oil so the whites are lacy and crisp at the edges. Serve each portion topped with an egg, with spring onions and cucumber alongside.

   4 min