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If you love fried rice, you should try this Indonesian Fried Rice with chicken (Nasi Goreng Ayam). It’s is a huge hit with my 5 year old and takes less than 30 minutes to make from start to finish!  

 

If you are looking for a recipe on how to cook authentic Nasi Goreng that is simple and quick, you’ve found the right recipe!  

For the rest of us, who have never heard of Nasi Goreng, don’t worry, you’re in good company!  Technically I myself had never heard the term Nasi Goreng until a few weeks ago.  It’s an Indonesian term that means Fried Rice.  Pretty simple right?

 

 

If you’ve ever traveled to Indonesia or Bali, you’ll recognize the term immediately.  However, for the rest of us who live vicariously through our friends travels, this might be a new name for a dish we’re already familiar with.

Fried rice is something most of us have heard of.  But I’ve never heard of Indonesian Fried Rice.  When i think of fried rice, I traditionally think of Chinese Fried Rice – like the kind you get with your sweet and sour chicken.  However this one is the real deal.  Authentic, flavorful and so much better than takeout chicken fried rice.

 

 

I can in no way take credit for this recipe.  This recipe comes straight out of the cookbook Rice. Noodles. Yum. by Abigail Sotto Raines, the creator of Manilla Spoon.  She’s a friend of mine who created a cookbook focusing on Southeast Asian Dishes.  The girl knows her stuff.

I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy and try out a few dishes!  This easy Chicken Fried Rice recipe has turned into a family favorite! Not only was it delicious but it’s a 20 minute Indonesian Fried Rice Recipe – really, how awesome does that sound! Trust me, your guests will be impressed!

 

 

I’ll be honest and say that I wasn’t sure how my kids were going to react to me making Indonesian Recipes.  We don’t eat seafood and my kids tend to think that rice is weird. However my 1 year old and 5 year old both LOVED it.  My son loved it so much he had THREE bowls full for dinner one night.  He just couldn’t get enough.  

This kid never eats rice and yet here he was shoving it in his mouth as fast as he could and asking for more.  I call that a gold star dinner in my house!  My husband and I also loved this chicken and rice stir fry. However my 8 year old (who is the pickiest of the bunch) would only eat one bite.  She’s my hard core ‘rice is disgusting’ child.  Do you have one of those?  If you don’t thank your lucky stars!  If you do, join the club and don’t give up! 

If you are looking for a healthier fried rice, try this Cauliflower Fried Rice, it’s equally as delicious!

 

 

There are a few things I want to initially point out about this recipe for those of you who have never had it. 

1.   Although the recipe calls for chicken (or leftover turkey works great too!) you can definitely swap that out with any meat or tofu.  Turkey, pork, steak, shrimp all work great in this recipe.
2.  If you’ve never cooked with Kecap Mains (sweet soy sauce) before, don’t panic.  I ordered mine on Amazon and it was here within 48 hours.  It was my first time cooking with it and now we’re hooked! It’s a thick syrupy soy sauce.  I can’t wait to try it in a variety of dishes.  My husband and I both agree that we think it’s the missing ingredient in so many of our favorite dishes that we’ve tried to recreate at home.  There was always something missing and we couldn’t put our finger on it.  Now we know it’s Kecap Manis.  It is a must have for this recipe so don’t skimp.

 

 

1. If you or your children do not like spicy foods, then either omit the red pepper or remove the seeds from the pepper before adding it to your dish.  Peppers are spicy because of their seeds.  If you remove the seeds from a pepper, you’ll get the flavor but 99% of the heat will be gone.  For this recipe I kept the pepper (for flavor) but removed the seeds first. 
2.  You do NOT need a wok to get great results from this recipe.  I myself do not own a wok. I just used my every day skillet and had great results!
3. There is quite a bit of onion in this recipe. If you aren’t a huge onion fan, you can definitely cut it back to half and still get lots of flavor!  However if you like onions, keep them!  YUM!

 

 

WHAT INGREDIENTS ARE IN THIS NASI GORENG RECIPE?

Easy Chicken Stir Fry with Rice really is one of those quick toss together meals.  I suspect you’ve got most of the ingredients in your pantry already. If you don’t then you will after making this!  It will become a staple as a side dish and main dish in your home! The ingredients you’ll need for this Nasi Goreng Dish are:

• Cooking oil of your choice – I used olive oil, but vegetable oil would have been my second choice.
• Shallots
• Green Onions
• Red Chili or Red Fresno Pepper (these are spicy so remove seeds or omit completely if you don’t like spicy food)
• Cooked Chicken – I used a rotisserie chicken, but this recipe would work great with leftover Turkey too!
• Soy Sauce (I used low sodium)

 

 

• Cold Cooked Rice – Leftovers work great!
• Kecap Manis – this is the new ingredient that is really easy to get on Amazon
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Fried Egg – Traditionally served with this dish – though a scrambled fried egg would work well too.
• Cucumber – Traditionally served with this dish
• Tomatoes quartered – Traditionally served with this dish

 

 

HOW DO YOU COOK INDONESIAN FRIED RICE?

If you already have all the ingredients for this chicken stir fry rice recipe, then learning how to make it really does only take minutes!

• Heat the oil and add shallots.  You’ll want to make them nice and limp. 
• Then add green onions, sliced pepper and mix.
• Add chicken and soy sauce.
• Place your cooked cold rice and mix well, breaking up any clumps that might be in your pan.
• Add your magic ingredient – Kecap Manis stir well.  Make sure everything is heated through and serve immediately with fried egg, cucumbers and tomatoes! 

 

 

WHAT GOES GOOD WITH CHICKEN FRIED RICE?

The nice thing about fried rice and chicken recipe is that the “sides” are included with the recipe. Fried egg, cucumber and tomato slices.  However if you feel you need to add additional dishes to the table, I’d suggest a simple green salad, or fruit.  This meal is not a heavy one, so no need to add heavy sides.  Keep them light and refreshing.

• Grape Salad
• 5 Minute Fluff Salad
• Winter Fruit & Cashew Salad
• Broccoli Salad
• Cucumber Salad
• Asian Ramen Noodle Salad

 

 

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