30 mins to 1 hour
Serves 4
Rick Stein serves up tasty Indonesian fried rice – ideal for barbecues, or for using up leftover cooked meat and veg.
For this recipe you will need 8-16 bamboo skewers (18cm/7in long), soaked in cold water for 1 hour.
By Rick Stein
Ingredients
For the barbecued chicken
- 3
garlic cloves, crushed - 1 tsp crushed
white peppercorns - 1 tbsp granulated
sugar - 1 tbsp Thai
fish sauce - 1
lime, juice only - 500g/1lb 2oz skinned boneless
chicken thighs, each cut into 2.5cm/1in strips
For the spice paste
- 2 tbsp
vegetable oil - 4 fat
garlic cloves, roughly chopped - 50g/2oz
shallots, roughly chopped - 25g/1oz roasted salted
peanuts - 6 medium-hot red
chillies, roughly chopped - 1 tsp
blachan (shrimp paste) - 1 tsp
salt
For the nasi goreng
- 300g/10½oz
long-grain rice -
sunflower oil, for frying - 6 large
shallots, thinly sliced - 2 large free-range
eggs - salt and freshly ground
black pepper - 1 tbsp
tomato purée - 1 tbsp
ketjap manis - 1 tbsp light
soy sauce - 5cm/2in piece
cucumber, cut into quarters lengthways, sliced - 8
spring onions, trimmed, thinly sliced on the diagonal - salt and freshly ground
black pepper
Method
-
For the barbecued chicken, mix the crushed garlic, crushed white peppercorns, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice together in a bowl. Add the chicken pieces and place in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
-
To cook the chicken, thread the marinated chicken pieces onto parallel pairs of the soaked bamboo skewers (this helps to stop the pieces from spinning around as you turn them).
-
Preheat the grill to its highest setting (or prepare the barbecue).
-
Grill the chicken skewers for 6-7 minutes, turning regularly, until golden-brown and caramelised on the outside and cooked through (no trace of pink should remain).
-
Slide the barbecued chicken off the skewers, cut into chunks and set aside.
-
For the spice paste, blend all of the spice paste ingredients in a food processor to a smooth paste.
-
For the nasi goreng, cook the rice in boiling, salted water for 12-15 minutes, or according to packet instructions, until just tender. Drain, rinse well with boiling hot water from the kettle, and drain well again.
-
Spread the rice out onto a large baking tray and set aside until cold (but do not refrigerate).
-
Heat 1cm/½in of the sunflower oil in a large, deep-sided frying pan until a breadcrumb sizzles and turns golden-brown when dropped into it. (Caution: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.) Add the sliced shallots and shallow fry, stirring now and then, until crisp and richly golden-brown. Remove the onions from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on plenty of kitchen paper. Sprinkle lightly with salt and set aside until cold and crisp.
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Beat the eggs in a bowl with some salt and freshly ground black pepper.
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Heat a couple of tablespoons of the sunflower oil in a small frying pan over a medium-high heat, pour in one-third of the beaten egg and cook until it has has set on top.
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Flip the egg over, fry it for a few more seconds then turn it out onto a chopping board or plate, roll it up tightly and set aside until cold. Repeat the process twice more with the remaining egg.
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When the egg rolls are cold, slice them into thin strips.
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Heat a wok over a high heat until smoking hot. Add two tablespoons of the oil left over from frying the shallots, then add the nasi goreng paste and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.
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Add the tomato purée and ketjap manis and stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the cold cooked rice and stir-fry for a further 2-3 minutes, or until heated through.
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Add the barbecued chicken pieces, fried shallots and strips of omelette and stir-fry for another minute.
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Add the soy sauce, cucumber and most of the spring onions and mix together well.
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To serve, spoon the nasi goreng onto a large warmed platter. Sprinkle over the remaining spring onions and allow people to help themselves.