Spending more time inside your house while you #StayatHome to practice social distancing means you’d not be in a hurry to reach your office and will be having enough time to make yourself a nice breakfast. To level up your cooking skills, try to recreate these delicious Indonesian breakfast foods. You can buy the ingredients online for these hassle-free recipes that can be made and served quickly.
1 | Nasi Goreng
Literally meaning “fried rice”, nasi goreng is a widely-popular Asian dish adapted for the Indonesian palate. It’s a dish that you can find in almost every corner of Indonesia, but no one can ever get enough of it, even the locals. Its rich taste pleases everyone. You will enjoy this dish immensely.
Ingredients that you will need to prepare are:
Vegetable oil
A stem of spring onion, sliced thinly
3 red chillies
125 g of chicken meat, finely chopped
One egg whisked
2 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce
5 shallots
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of pepper
600 g of rice
5 cloves of garlic
How to Make Nasi Goreng:
1. Grind the garlic, shallot, and red chilli in a mortar.
2. Scramble the eggs, fry them, and then set aside.
3. Sauté the seasonings in oil.
4. Add the chopped chicken, eggs, and spring onions to the sautéed seasonings. Stir well, then add soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Let the flavours combine well.
5. Finally, add the rice and stir well.
6. Nasi goreng is ready to serve.
Indonesia offers many varieties of Nasi Goreng and each region has its own distinctive speciality, for example, Nasi Goreng Magelangan (fried rice with noodles and sweet soy sauce), Nasi Goreng Padang (red fried rice with pink crackers), Nasi Goreng Gila (fried rice with vegetable condiments), and many more.
2 | Nasi Kuning
This delicious rice-based dish originates from Java and is served in various celebrations or traditional ceremonies as it represents gratitude. Besides Java, Nasi Kuning can also be found in Bali, Manado, and Banjar. The yellow colour of the dish comes from the natural dyes of turmeric, so it is not only rich in taste but also safe to be consumed. According to Javanese people, yellow symbolizes gold, which means wealth.
Ingredients that you will need to prepare are:
1 kg of rice
5-cm piece of turmeric
2-cm piece of galangal
900 ml of coconut milk
2 pandan leaves
2 lemongrass stems
4 bay leaves
5-cm piece of ginger
5 red onions
4 teaspoons of salt
How to Make Nasi Kuning:
1. Wash the rice thoroughly, then soak it in water.
2. Blend the turmeric, ginger, galangal, onions, and salt together. Mix with coconut milk and stir well.
3. Boil the coconut milk.
4. Strain the rice. Then add the coconut milk to the rice. Add bay leaves and lemongrass.
5. Bring the rice to a boil over low heat. Continue stirring until the water has evaporated. Before it gets fully cooked, take out bay leaves and lemongrass from the rice.
6. Prepare a pan for steaming and boil the water. Add rice to the steamer pan, and then add the pandan leaves.
7. Steam the rice till it’s completely cooked.
8. Wait for the rice to cool down a bit. Serve warm.
3 | Nasi Uduk
Originally from Jakarta, Nasi Uduk is Indonesian Betawi-style steamed rice cooked in coconut milk and is widely found across the country. It has a savoury taste and is so versatile that it can be accompanied by any side dish.
Ingredients that you will need to prepare are:
300 grams of rice, washed thoroughly
450 ml of coconut milk
2 bay leaves
2 cloves
2 lemongrass stems, bruised
2-cm piece of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of pepper
A pinch of salt
How to Make Nasi Uduk:
1. Boil coconut milk and add the bay leaves, cloves, lemongrass, cinnamon, pepper, and salt. Stir and bring to a boil.
2. Mix coconut milk and rice. Steam until the rice is cooked.
3. Serve Nasi Uduk with any side dish you like.
4 | Nasi Rames
Also known as Nasi Campur, Nasi Rames refers to an Indonesian rice dish accompanied by small portions of various other dishes such as meats, vegetables, peanuts, eggs, and fried-shrimp krupuk. The assortment of side dishes depends on the origin.
Ingredients that you will need to prepare are:
A portion of white rice
2 hard-boiled eggs
2 pieces of fried tofu
1 strand of orange leaves
1/2 stick lemongrass, crushed
vegetable oil
50 ml of water
3 cloves of shallot
2 cloves of garlic
2 large red chillies
3 red curly chillies
4 red birds-eye chillies
1 candlenut
1 teaspoon brown sugar
a pinch of salt
How to Make Nasi Rames:
1. Cut the tofu and fry until the surface becomes dry. Fry the hard-boiled eggs as well. Set aside.
2. Sauté the spices. Add the orange leaves & lemongrass. Pour water, then add the tofu & fried eggs. Stir well. Reduce the heat and let the flavours seep in.
3. When the liquid reduces, set it aside.
4. Fry the tempeh for a short time. Set aside.
5. Sauté the ground spices, add bay leaves, pour water, then add the tempeh & banana. Cook until the liquid reduces. Then set aside.
6. Sauté the seasonings, add bay leaves, pour water, then add fried tempeh. Cook until the liquid reduces. Then set aside.
7. Serve all the side dishes with rice.
5 | Bubur Ayam
Believed to be a fusion of traditional Chinese and Indonesian food, Bubur Ayam is a portion of rice porridge served with shredded chicken meat and condiments such as chopped scallion, crispy fried shallot, celery, fried soybean, Chinese crullers, both salty and sweet soy sauce, and is sometimes topped with yellow chicken broth and crackers.
Ingredients that you will need to prepare are:
150 g rice, cleaned and washed
2 lemongrass stems
1-cm piece of ginger
1,750 ml of broth
1 block of chicken broth
½ teaspoon of salt
½ chicken, cut into 4 parts
4 orange leaves
2-cm piece of galangal, bruised
2 bay leaves
2 ½ teaspoon of salt
1 litre of water
10 cloves of shallot
6 cloves of garlic
4 candlenuts
1-cm piece of ginger
½ teaspoon coriander powder
3-cm piece of turmeric
peanuts
celery, chopped
crackers
fried onions
How to Make Bubur Ayam:
1. In a saucepan, cook the rice with the chicken broth, lemongrass, ginger, and salt until the rice develops a porridge-like consistency.
2. Grind the spices.
3. Sauté the ground spices, bay leaves, lemongrass, galangal, and lime leaves until fragrant. Add chicken and stir until it changes its colour. Then add water and cook until the seasonings seep into the chicken
4. Remove the chicken. Fry it until it is brown and then shred the chicken.
5. Serve the porridge with chicken broth, shredded chicken, and complementary ingredients.
Indonesia has so many varieties of Bubur spread across the country and each region has its own variety, for example, Bubur Tinutuan (Manadonese porridge), Bubur Baro Baro (glutinous rice which is boiled with pandan leaves), and others.
6 | Lontong Sayur
Lontong Sayur is an Indonesian dish made of a compressed rice cake and is usually served with a coconut milk curry prepared with young papaya, soy-braised tofu, and hard-boiled eggs. It is found almost everywhere across the archipelago and each region has its own signature recipe.
Ingredients that you will need to prepare are:
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 bay leaves
500-gram beef, choose cuts for stew, cut into bite-size pieces
4 chayote, peeled, cored, and julienned
500-gram snake beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 litres thin coconut milk (or use 7 cups water + 1 can of coconut milk)
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
2 tablespoons of palm sugar
A pinch of salt
Spice Paste (grind all the ingredients):
100 grams shallot
4 cloves of garlic
10 bird’s-eye chillies
30 grams of dried shrimps, soak in boiling water to soften
2-inch piece of galangal
How to Make Lontong Sayur:
1. Heat oil in a pot, and sauté the spice paste and bay leaves
2. Add the beef and cook.
3. Add the chayote and snake beans. Cook until vegetables start to wilt.
4. Add coconut milk, fish sauce, and palm sugar. Bring to a boil.
5. Reduce the heat and cook until the meat is tender. You can add more boiling water. Try to keep the liquid up to 2 litres.
6. Add some more palm sugar and salt. Turn off the heat.
7. Serve warm.
7 | Mie Goreng
Another versatile and easy to make Indonesian-Chinese fusion dish is Mie Goreng. Simply translated as “fried noodles”, Mie Goreng are chewy egg noodles that are stir-fried in a sweet and salty sauce and contain a lot of crunchy veggies and juicy tomatoes. There are so many variations of this dish for you to try.
Sauce Ingredients that you will need to prepare are:
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of sweet soy sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 ½ Tablespoon of soy sauce
½ Tablespoon of sesame oil
1 Tablespoon of chilli garlic paste
Main Ingredients that you will need to prepare are:
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
Thai chillies, chopped
15–18 shrimps
1 cup julienned carrots
1 cup cabbage, chopped
2 cups of dark sturdy greens (Chinese broccoli or kale), cut into ribbons
2 Eggs
450g (1lb) cooked egg noodles
Green onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, wedges
Fried shallots
How to Make Mie Goreng:
1. Combine all the ingredients of the sauce in a small bowl. Stir well.
2. Take some oil in a wok and heat it over medium-high heat. Sear off the shrimp or whatever protein you’re using. When fully cooked, remove the contents of the wok and set aside. Do not clean the wok.
3. Add some more oil in the wok and turn the heat to medium-low. Add the garlic, shallots and chillies. Sauté until the shallots are translucent.
4. Add all the vegetables except tomatoes and turn the heat to medium-high. Add a splash of the sauce, then toss for about 1-2 minutes until the vegetables have wilted,
5. Push all the vegetables to one side of the pan, add a little extra oil into the empty space and add the eggs. Break the yolks and let the eggs set half way. Cover the eggs with the vegetables and let it set for another 15 seconds or so. Then toss everything together.
6. Turn the heat to high. Then add the noodles, the protein, and the remaining sauce. Keep tossing until the sauce mixes well and gets absorbed.
7. Turn off the heat, and toss in the tomatoes and most of the green onions. Toss briefly to warm up the tomatoes and mix everything.
8. Serve with extra green onions and fried shallots if desired.
Almost every region in Indonesia has its own signature recipe of Mie Goreng, such as Mie Goreng Aceh (fried noodles with distinctive Acehnese spices and condiments), Mie Goreng Jawa (fried noodles with sweet soy sauce), Mie Tiaw Pontianak (fried noodles with kwe tiaw, a wide and flat variant of noodle), and many more.
These 7 delicious Indonesian breakfast foods are very versatile. So if you have mastered making one of them, you can recreate the recipe according to your own personal taste. Who knows? You might end up creating your own signature breakfast recipe that you can share with your family and friends on social media. Easy-to-make and delicious, these Indonesian breakfast recipes will never disappoint you.
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