February 6, 2007
Fragrant Fried Rice
Fried Rice paradise, Nasi Goreng very nice! (excerpt from Dick Lee’s 1991 musical, Fried Rice Paradise.)
“Nasi Goreng” is the Malay phrase for “Fried Rice”. “Nasi” means “Rice”; “Goreng” means “Fried”, that’s why you would come across terms like “Nasi Lemak” which means “Coconut Rice”.
This Fragrant Fried Rice recipe provided me with a good way to use up quite a bit of my available ingredients which I need to “clear” before my trip back to Singapore. I know, I know… you can throw in any ingredients or leftovers to concoct a Fried Rice dish like Scallop Fried Rice or Yang Zhou Fried Rice, but this dish is different. This one is FRAGRANT Fried Rice.
Why is it so fragrant, you may ask? Well, it’s because it has a mix of dried chillies, dried shrimp, shallots and garlic, all the aromatics used in Chinese cooking.
In my opinion, the original recipe had too much dried chillies (12 pieces) dried shrimp (80g or 27 oz), shallots (10 cloves) and garlic (4 cloves). Yes, they are aromatic ingredients, but they have a very sharp smell and taste and too much of these aromatics would be too overwhelming for me! So I reduced them according to my spiciness preference and what I thought was appropriate - dried chillies (8 pieces) dried shrimp (30g or 10 oz), shallots (5 cloves), garlic (3 cloves). It turned out well - spicy but not super fiery, fragrant and not overpowering.
Here is the easy Chinese recipe for Fragrant Fried Rice:
Ingredients (Serves 3):
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 8 pcs dried chilli (soaked in warm water)
- 30g (or 10 oz) dried shrimp
- 5 cloves medium shallots
- 3 cloves garlic
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 bowls of cooked, steamed white rice
- 3 stalks spring onions, cut into small pieces (for garnish)
Cooking Method:
1. Beat eggs and pan fry into an omelet. Cut into thin shreds and set aside. (Note: You can choose to add 1/2 cup milk into the beaten eggs. I find that adding milk makes my eggs fluffier.)
2. With an electric blender, mince up dried chillies, dried shrimp, shallots and garlic then pound them into a paste using a mortar and pestle.
3. Heat up oil and fry the pounded ingredients until fragrant. Add more oil if necessary or the pounded ingredients may burn.
4. Add in the cooked rice, mix well and stir fry until fragrant.
5. Garnish with omelet shreds and chopped spring onions. Serve.
Fragrant Fried Rice - Cook it, Smell it, Eat it!
Bite This!
More recipes:
Fried Dace With Black Olive Fried Rice
Return Of The Giant Kailan! - Fried Dace With Kailan
Chicken Recipe (5) - Spring Onion Chicken
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February 6th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Wow I learnt 2 Malay phrase! today. How informative blog you have here! :)
Stir fried rice is the best way to clear up the fridge, that is for sure.
February 6th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Hmmm.. Yummy… Practical and nice.
February 6th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
You are in a different league if you are thinking about fragrant too. I would be lucky if it just tasted good.
February 6th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Sue - Thanks! I just browsed your older post and found a Korean Kimchi Fried Rice whereby you used your leftover ingredients too! Sometimes I do specially buy ingredients like barbecue pork to make fried rice cos I just like fried rice :)
Fleck - thanks for visiting. Come back again for more!
DF - I am sure you do just fine. So what’s cooking next? :p
February 7th, 2007 at 12:06 am
Wah! 8 dried chillis for 3 bowls of rice is gonna give this fragrant fried rice a fiery treatment. Can dance samba after eating! :)
February 7th, 2007 at 12:19 am
i can almost smell it! :) looks good.
February 7th, 2007 at 5:28 am
So that’s what Nasi Goreng means. I’ve actually eaten it an asian restaurant and I liked it. I didn’t know the name actually meant something. To tell the truth, I didn’t even know it was Malaysian. Thanks for the enlightenment.
February 7th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Wow, Fragrant Rice….”pang pang”!
February 7th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
PP - Ano… and I forgot to tell my husband about that. He enthusiastically showered more white pepper on it and caused a fire in his mouth!
BC - Ya… and need to spray Lysol or Febreeze after that.
Hi Sim - (So weird like I am calling myself :p ) It’s kind of Malaysian, Indonesian style.
Tiga! Haha. Luckily not pang4 pang4!
February 8th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
[…] Here is a variation of Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice) from my earlier Fragrant Fried Rice post. […]