Easy Indonesian Fried Rice (bumbu Nasi Goreng)

Total Time: 20 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 3 -4 cups cooked rice, cooled (any kind, i like jasmine)
• 3 tablespoons peanut oil (preferred) or 3 tablespoons other vegetable oil
• 1 -2 tablespoon sambal bajak (chili relish) or 1 -2 tablespoon other se asian chili sauce or 1 -2 tablespoon chili paste, i imagine sriracha would work alright.
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 4 shallots, chopped
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce or 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 lb peeled raw shrimp (optional)

Recipe

• 1 pre-heat a wok or large skillet over medium heat, add the oil and, once heated, add the garlic, shallots, chili relish and (if using them) shrimp; cook the shrimp until pink on one side, flip once and pull them out when done (3-5 minutes total).
• 2 once the shallots start to become soft add rice, eliminating any clumps, stir frequently for about three minutes.
• 3 make a small hole in the center of the rice, pour in the eggs and scramble, incorporating them into the rice gradually as you stir.
• 4 drizzle in soy or fish sauce, stirring to ensure even dissipation; more sauce or salt may be added at this point to taste; rice should be thoroughly heated through.
• 5 top with cooked shrimp; traditionally this is served with fresh cucumber and tomatoes.
• 6 extras: (sorry for the semi-colons instead of periods, recipezaar's auto format makes each sentence into a seperate step-- something i did not want) it may not be traditional, but i like to add broccoli, deep fried tofu (available at asian markets and many grocery stores, try to get small cubes), frozen peas and green onion to my rice; if you choose to do so, cut broccoli and fried tofu into small pieces; add approximately 2/3 cup each of broccoli and peas at the same time you add the garlic, etc and stir fry.
• 7 if the vegetables have absorbed a lot of the oil, more may be necessary before adding rice; add 2/3 cup fried tofu and sliced green onion with the rice; if you do this it might be easier to cook shrimp separately or leave them in the pan rather than removing (if you aren't picky about done-ness); in fact, any number of vegetables and/or meats may be added; for raw meat, cut into small pieces and add in step 1, after it's cooked proceed to 2, if cooked add it at the end; for added spice (i know these additions are getting exhaustive) add diced chili pepper at step 1.