nasi goreng

Nasi goreng is Indonesian and Malay: nasi (cooked rice, from Old Javanese) and goreng (to fry, from Proto-Austronesian). The dish is fried rice prepared with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), garlic, shallots, chili, and typically topped with a fried egg, krupuk (prawn crackers), and whatever protein is available — chicken, shrimp, or sausage. The rice must be day-old. Fresh rice is too moist to fry properly.

Fried rice techniques likely arrived in Indonesia through Chinese immigration. Chinese communities in Southeast Asia have stir-fried rice for centuries. Indonesian nasi goreng distinguishes itself from Chinese fried rice through kecap manis — the thick, sweet soy sauce that gives it a dark color and caramelized sweetness. Kecap manis is itself Indonesian: kecap comes from the Hokkien word for sauce (kê-chiap), which also gave English the word 'ketchup.'

Nasi goreng is eaten at every meal, including breakfast. Street vendors (kaki lima) serve it from carts on every block of every Indonesian city. It is the default late-night food, the default hangover food, and the default 'there is nothing else in the kitchen' food. A plate costs as little as five thousand rupiah (about thirty-five cents). It is the most democratic food in Indonesia.

Indonesian nasi goreng has spread throughout Southeast Asia and beyond. In the Netherlands, the former colonial power, nasi goreng is a common supermarket meal — frozen and microwaved, which is a long way from a Jakarta street cart. In Australia, nasi goreng is a cafe staple. The dish has been adapted, simplified, and commercialized, but the original — smoky from a blazing wok, dark with kecap manis, topped with a runny fried egg — remains the benchmark.