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Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Indonesian Fried Rice Adds Spice To An Old Favorite

Jenn Harris |
October 18, 2009 | 6:21 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter
Fried rice
Fish sauce and sweet soy sauce give a great kick to this dish. (photo by Jenn Harris)

Taste of Indonesia
 
My best friend in the entire world, Lourah, is from Indonesia.  Last summer she introduced me to the world of Indonesian cooking with her sweet and savory fried rice.  Let's just say I've been hooked ever since.  Plain white rice is tossed with carrots, onion, chicken, tangy ginger, garlic and hot Thai chilies.  The rice gets a hit of pungent fish sauce, soy sauce and sweet soy sauce to give it a distinct and irresistible sweet and salty flavor.  A fried egg and a drizzle of the sweet soy sauce finish off the fried rice.
 
This is unlike any fried rice you've ever tasted at a Chinese restaurant.  The sweet soy sauce is so full bodied and rich, it definitely makes the dish and balances out the saltiness of the fish sauce nicely.
 
Sweet soy sauce is a popular Indonesian cooking ingredient.  It is completely different from regular soy sauce in that it is thicker in texture, almost like molasses, and sweet.  It can be found at any Asian supermarket.  I would normally give a substitute for an ingredient that can only be found at a certain type of market, but this ingredient is a must for the fried rice.  Fish sauce is another ingredient used a lot in Indonesian cooking.  It is extremely salty and does smell like fishy feet but a little goes a long way and it bumps up the flavor of anything you put it in.  Fish sauce can also be found at any Asian supermarket.
 
Although there are quite a few ingredients in this dish, and the word "Indonesian" might set off some alarms for those intimidated by Asian cooking, this is a really easy dish to make.  The ingredients may include some things you've never heard of but the preparation is simple and so worth trying.
 
Lourah's Indonesian Fried Rice
Serves 4
 
Ingredients:
 
1 large to-go box of white rice from your favorite Chinese take out
2 chicken breasts
1/2 yellow onion
4 carrots
2 Thai chili peppers * can be found at any Asian market
4 cloves of garlic
2 green onions
1 tbsp fresh, grated ginger
2 tbsp canola oil
4 eggs
1/2 tbsp white pepper *can be found at any regular market
1 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
3-4 tbsp sweet soy sauce *adjust the sweetness to your liking
 

cooking the veggies

Directions
Cut the onion, green onion and carrots into small, bite-sized pieces and mince the garlic. Cut the chili peppers into small rings.  Also chop the chicken into small cubes.  Add 1tbsp of the oil to a wok, or large pan over medium/high heat.  Once the oil has heated up, add the garlic and chilies, then the chicken.  Cook the chicken until it is cooked-through, about 7 minutes.  Add the onion, green onion, carrot and ginger to the pan and cook until the onions are translucent and the carrots are tender, about 5 minutes.
 
Add the rice to the pan and toss with the chicken and vegetables.  Cook for about 3 minutes. Pour in the fish sauce, soy sauce and sweet soy sauce and stir until well blended.  Add the white pepper and toss again. Remove the rice from the pan and set aside in a serving bowl.  Set the temperature setting on your stove to high. 

fried rice

Pour the remaining tbsp of oil into the pan and fry each egg separately. Each one should only take a couple minutes on each side.  The heat should be high enough to make the egg bubble and give off a distinct crackling sound.  Place the eggs on top of the rice and drizzle with a little more sweet soy sauce.


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