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Recipe: Raph Rashid’s Flexible, 25-Minute Nasi Goreng

Styling: Deborah Kaloper

Styling: Deborah Kaloper ·Photo: Mark Roper

This quick, satisfying Indonesian fried rice is one of many weeknight recipes in Broadsheet’s cookbook, Home Made. You can whip it up with whatever add-ons and condiments you have on hand: hot sauce, pickled ginger, fried eggs, lemon wedges or crispy fried shallots, say.

I grew up with this rice and I liked it, but I honestly pined for the lighter Cantonese version of fried rice. “Hey Pops, why’s your nasi goreng deep in colour and funk? I want the one like at the Chinese takeaway!”

“You serious, young Snacc Boss? This is NASI GORENG from the village,” my dad would say. “Now sit up and pierce that egg yolk with your fork and give it a hit of chilli or ketchup if you want.” Ahh, my childhood. Smiley face.

A lot of nasi goreng recipes call for day-old rice, which does work well. I use cooled rice for two reasons.

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First, I prefer my rice not dried-out or stale, which often happens in the fridge.

Second, nasi goreng is not an afterthought; I’m not just using left-over rice. I want to blast it pretty much straight from the pan when I’m hungry. So I like to dry out the exterior of the rice, while keeping the inside tender. It’ll still be a bit sticky and that’s cool – you just don’t want it too wet.

*Raph Rashid owns Melbourne’s Taco Truck a

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