Have you ever made Nasi Goreng yourself? If not, then you absolutely must give it a go. A simple recipe with rice, all sorts of vegetables and a bit of chicken. One thing I can tell you right away: the homemade version tastes far better than the frozen version from the supermarket, guaranteed.

Nasi Goreng is one of Indonesia's national dishes. There are countless variations. Really, this recipe is a typical leftovers meal that uses up everything you can still find in the fridge. The base of the dish is the rice (nasi), which is fried (goreng) in a wok. Hence the name.

But freshly cooked it's a true journey of pleasure to that faraway country too. In that case I'd recommend cooking the rice a little in advance if you can, and letting it cool briefly before it's fried.

Personally, I like this dish best with juicy chicken cubes and lots of crunchy vegetables. For seasoning I use a sauce made from tomato purée, soy sauce, a little water and a secret ingredient from my kitchen: lemongrass oil. You know I'm an absolute fan of essential oils and often use them for cooking. In recipes like this one especially, I'm thrilled by them every single time.

The big advantage of lemongrass oil: I can decide to cook Asian food at any moment without having to run to the supermarket first, where I always have to buy several stalks of lemongrass that unfortunately often don't have much flavour or aren't even fresh. With the essential oil, one drop is all I need to create an incredible, typically Asian aroma. So simple, practical and uncomplicated. Amazing!

For exactly this reason, I could never do without this ingredient in my kitchen again.

By the way, the meat can simply be left out for a vegetarian version.

Now I hope you have lots of fun trying out this super simple, delicious, spicy recipe.

Nasi Goreng

• Preparation15 min
• Cooking time25 min
• Total40 min

• Calories585kcal
• Carbohydrates90gof which sugars 7 g
• Protein35g
• Fat6gof which saturated 2 g
• Fibre5g

per serving

CategoryLunch / DinnerCourseRice dishCountryIndonesiaOilLemongrass Oil

Servings:–4+

Ingredients

• 400 g basmati rice
• 450 g chicken (diced)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil (or butter)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 onion (finely chopped)
• 4 carrots (fine strips)
• 1 red bell pepper (finely diced)
• 1 courgette (fine strips)
• 1 drop lemongrass oil (or 1 stalk of lemongrass)
• 1 drop Thai oil (optional)
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato purée

Method

1. Rinse the rice in a sieve under cold running water until the water runs clear, then drain well. Cook the rice according to the packet instructions. Fluff the cooked rice with a fork and let it cool.
2. Heat the oil or butter in the wok, stir-fry the chicken until cooked through, then set aside, covered.
3. Finely chop the garlic and onions, prepare the remaining vegetables and cut them into small pieces. Heat the oil or butter in the wok and stir-fry the garlic, onions and all the vegetables for approx. 5 mins. If you'd like to use fresh lemongrass, add the lightly crushed stalk now so the aroma can develop.
4. Then add the rice and stir-fry for a further 5 mins. or so.
5. In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, tomato purée and a little water. If you're cooking with the oils, add them to the mixture and stir it into the vegetable rice together with the chicken.
6. Mix everything briefly, let it heat through and then serve immediately.

Notes

• The vegetables can be swapped depending on the season and your preferences. Do get creative and let the seasonal vegetables inspire you.

Cooking with essential oils

In this recipe:Lemongrass Oil

How to dose essential oils (toothpick method!), when to add them and what to look out for — it is all in the guide.

To the guide →To the oil lexicon →

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